Pubdate: Fri, 03 Apr 2015
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Aedan Helmer

DIPLOMAT'S SURVIVING SON CHARGED WITH THREATENING TO KILL MIAMI DETECTIVE

The teenage son of a Canadian diplomat, already facing felony murder 
charges in Florida, is now charged with threatening to kill a veteran 
homicide detective.

Marc Wabafiyebazu, 15, was arrested Monday after a gun battle erupted 
in a quiet, upscale Miami neighbourhood, leaving his older brother 
Jean, 17, dead. While he is yet to be formally charged, he is facing 
one count of felony murder and an additional count of threatening a 
public servant.

Their mother, Canadian Consul General Roxanne Dube, who took on the 
diplomatic role in February, was reportedly denied in her request to 
have her surviving son extradited to Canada to face charges, 
according to CBS News.

According to a police affidavit filed with the Miami Dade Office of 
the State Attorney, Marc Wabafiyebazu, while sitting in a Miami 
police station homicide unit, "stated he was going to kill Detective 
(Rolando) Garcia and that he would shoot him in the head."

Hours earlier, police had picked up Wabafiyebazu outside a Coral 
Gables apartment where a gunfight erupted over an apparent drug deal 
gone bad that left his older brother dead.

Jean Wabafiyebazu was shot and killed, while the shootout also killed 
an alleged drug dealer, 17-year-old Joshua Wright.

According to the police report, the two brothers - who grew up in 
Ottawa and both attended Lycee Claudel private school last year - had 
arranged to buy two pounds of marijuana from suspected drug dealer 
Anthony Rodriguez, 19, who is charged with second degree murder with 
a deadly weapon and possession of cannabis with intent to sell.

Rodriguez drove up to the apartment at 3600 SW 17th Terrace with the 
pot and "began negotiations... During the negotiations, both deceased 
victims became involved in an exchange of gunfire," the police report reads.

The boys' father, Germano Wabafiyebazu, who still lives in Ottawa, 
told the Sun on Wednesday that the two brothers had borrowed their 
mother's black BMW with diplomatic licence plates Monday afternoon to 
buy marijuana.

Wabafiyebazu said they then met "an intermediary" who told them to go 
a home where the drugs could be bought. When the brothers arrived at 
the home in Coral Gables, Marc stayed in the car while Jean went 
inside, he said.

The elder Wabafiyebazu said Marc ran inside after hearing gunfire and 
fired two shots into the ceiling in an attempt to attract attention 
and get police on scene.

Police then arrived and arrested Marc. Rodriguez was arrested at a 
nearby gas station suffering from a gunshot wound to his arm, and a 
fourth unidentified man was shot in the stomach and treated in hospital.

Miami Police say they believe the two teens were attempting to rob 
the drug dealers, but Marc Wabafiyebazu's arrest report indicates no 
weapon was seized.

It is not known how the brothers acquired the guns. According to 
their father, the boys had only arrived in Florida six weeks ago.

"It's very sad," Germano Wabafiyebazu told the Sun. "I wanted the 
children to stay home. (Roxanne) is feeling guilty... They just 
arrived, they don't know life in Miami and that is why Jean is dead. 
He is a very good kid, it is very sad."

Roxanne Dube issued a statement Thursday offering "our most sincere 
condolences to the family of Joshua Wright, who have also lost their 
son, and to all of those who have been so tragically affected in this 
unimaginable circumstance. Your grief is our grief."

Dube requested privacy for the family.

"For now, we just want to be there for Marc, our incredibly caring 
son who loved his brother very much, and to say goodbye, ever so 
tenderly and quietly to Jean, our love."

The State Attorney's office said Marc Wabafiyebazu will be held in a 
juvenile detention centre for 21 days pending his arraignment, and is 
due to appear in court next week for a bail hearing.

Under Florida law, anyone involved in a crime in which a murder is 
committed can also face the lesser charge of felony murder.

Media reports have suggested Wabafiyebazu could face the death 
penalty if convicted under state law, but officials within the State 
Attorney's office denied they were pursuing capital punishment.

"It's a very complicated case, and (prosecutors) have to analyze the 
evidence and put it together," said one official. "When you have a 
minor, depending on the age of the minor and the severity of the 
crime, there is a possibility, depending on the evidence, that the 
minor could be charged as an adult.

Aminor cannot be charged for the death penalty, and as of right now, 
he's in the custody of the juvenile justice system."

with files from Doug Hempstead
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom