His co-defendant told it all. Now, a man is behind bars four years after strip club murder
A Broward man was arrested four years after a brawl at a popular Miami strip club ended with a security guard being shot to death.
Semaj Charles, 33, is behind bars in Miami as of Tuesday. Codefendants James Lemons, 34, and Anthony Rodriguez, 29, were arrested in connection with the shooting back in April 2019.
READ MORE: Strip joint brawl turns deadly. One man shot dead and another injured
Charles faces a slew of charges including first degree murder, two counts of attempted first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder and possession of firearm by a convicted felon.
The charges stem from a Jan. 17, 2019 shooting at Booby Trap On The River, a strip club located at 3615 NW South River Drive. Miami-Dade police found Jose Otero, a 31-year-old security guard, on the ground in front of the club with a gunshot wound to his torso. Eric Bauer, then 46, suffered a gunshot wound to the hand. Abel Gomez, then 50, was shot at but dodged the spray of bullets.
A witness told investigators that before the shooting, a group of men were arguing inside the club. The squabble escalated near one of the bars as a man punched another.
That’s when the badly behaved trio was kicked out, police say. And they weren’t happy about it, threatening to retaliate against the guards as they left the club. Gomez followed one of the men to his black Nissan Maxima and snapped a photo of the tag, which was registered to Rodriguez’s mother.
Some time later, video surveillance caught a light-colored sedan pulling up in front of Booby Trap. A man dressed in dark clothing exited the rear passenger door and shot toward the front entrance, where Otero, Bauer, Gomez and other security personnel were standing.
In 2022, Lemons turned on his co-defendants and told police he was involved in the shooting, with Rodriguez serving as the getaway driver and Charles as the shooter. Lemons was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, with credit for slightly more than three years served.
Charles is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond.
