‘You robbed us forever,’ mom of girl killed in botched sneaker robbery tells killer

Maria Camps-Lacayo stood at a courtroom lectern Wednesday and cried in pain, tears running down her cheeks, as four years of pent- up emotion and anger poured out. Held steady by loved ones, she turned toward the defense table and told George Oshane Walton that she prays he somehow finds peace in his life.

“You took my daughter from us. You robbed us forever. We will never see her again,” said Camps-Lacayo. “She was a good girl.”

Moments earlier, a 12-member jury had found Walton guilty of killing 18-year-old Andrea Camps-Lacayo during a botched robbery — over three pair of sneakers. Walton, 23, and convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and attempted robbery with a firearm, was sentenced to life in prison.

In a courthouse that often sees emotional endings to long trials, this one stood out. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O choked up as he read the sentencing. Police detectives who pieced together the case held back tears. Family and friends cried loudly.

And in a rare display of solidarity, many of the jurors who had taken just over two hours to convict Walton, re-entered the courtroom to hear the family speak and listen to the sentencing.

“We just wanted to see it through,” said jury foreman Bruno Costa.

Speaking directly to family members of a young woman whose life was taken much too soon, Judge de la O said it was unfortunate that he’s had to say the same thing far too many times.

“I can’t give you justice,” he said.

Walton showed very little emotion during the sentencing, stroking his chin and briefly covering his eyes with his left hand. Given the chance to speak, he chose not to. He was handcuffed and fingerprinted and taken away by Miami-Dade corrections officers through a back door in courtroom 4-3 of Miami-Dade’s criminal courthouse.

His attorney Alan Greenstein said there would be an appeal, likely over insufficient evidence to convict. It’s an argument that rarely sways appellate judges.

A girl’s death over sneakers

Prosecutors from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office say Andrea Camps-Lacayo lost her life during the botched robbery of three pairs of name brand sneakers she and her boyfriend, both Miami-Dade high school seniors, were trying to sell to make some money during the early days of the pandemic.

They successfully argued that Walton and friend Adrian Cosby were trying to steal three new pairs of Adidas Yeezy sneakers, a pricey joint venture between the shoe giant and music superstar Kanye West that sell for $235 in retail stores and much more on the re-sale market.

According to police and prosecutors, Andrea Camps-Lacayo’s boyfriend Sergio Berben — a proficient Instagram user in high school who said he used the social media site to dabble in stock trades — advertised the resale of the Yeezys on an Instagram page he created called kickzone305. Prosecutors say he was contacted by direct message on the app the morning of April 7, 2020, by Eric Readon, who was Facetiming with Walton at the same time he was negotiating a sale price with Berben.

They agreed on a sale price of $935. With no meeting time or place yet set, Berben picked up his girlfriend to go out to breakfast before heading over to the gated community in the 27000 block of Southwest 121st Court, where he expected to meet Readon.

When Berben and Andrea Camps-Lacayo arrived at the community at 1:15 p.m., Berben contacted Readon who directed him to the front of an abandoned home. While Berben’s white Jeep Wrangler was parked at the curb still in drive with its engine on, Walton showed up. Berben lowered his window and the two chatted.

At one point, prosecutors said, Walton asked to try on the shoes. Berben refused, wanting the money first. Walton claims to have been looking at the Cash App on his phone when his friend Adrian Cosby showed up behind him, walking along the edge of the road.

Suddenly, prosecutors say, Cosby lurched toward the car after pulling a pistol from his jacket. Berben began to speed off, but Cosby got off several rounds, one striking Andrea Camps-Lacayo in the stomach, another hitting Berben’s arm. Berben drove the Jeep out of the complex and pulled over on Southwest 112th Avenue near a Florida Turnpike exit and called 911.

Jurors heard the 911 call in which Berben begged for help and a dispatcher did all she could to keep him calm and help Andrea Camps-Lacayo until help arrived. They were transported to the hospital. Berben survived. His girlfriend did not.

Though prosecutors admit Walton didn’t fire the weapon, that doesn’t matter under state law. A person taking part in any crime when a death occurs — whether they physically committed it or not — can be charged with homicide in Florida. The gun was never found.

Cosby was also arrested and charged with the same crimes as Walton. His trial date is set for April.

‘Robbery that went bad’

During Wednesday’s closing arguments, Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Sara Imm called the attempted robbery a “set up. This was a robbery that went bad,” she told jurors.

And though the state couldn’t provide actual audio or text exchanges in which a potential robbery was discussed — Imm provided a convincing timeline that showed continual interactions among Readon, Cosby and Walton leading up to the death of Andrea Camps-Lacayo. She also explained to jurors how Walton deleted 541 pictures and texts when police showed up at Cosby’s home the day after the murder.

“The robbery did not go as planned. And as a result there was loss of life,” Imm told jurors. “They did not plan to kill anyone, but it was reasonably foreseeable.”

Walton’s attorney Greenstein countered that the state’s case was chock-full of “assumptions, suppositions and inferences, but no proof.” And he focused on the missing piece of evidence that would link Walton and the others to the murder and said his client didn’t use any force to try and take the shoes.

“They proved what? That they were friends, that they knew each other?” he asked the jury.

Responding to the state’s timeline that showed Walton and Cosby running off after the shooting, Greenstein called it instinctive.

“He’s done some stupid things in his life. Running from this was one of them,” the lawyer said of his client. “But running is natural under these circumstances. He was scared.”