A Miami-Dade landlord is now in custody following a fatal shooting of his tenant over a dispute regarding a thermostat. The incident took place yesterday morning in the 9400 block of Southwest 17th Terrace, where the landlord, identified as Adam Louis Anson, 37, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and burglary with assault or battery while armed. According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrived to find 57-year-old Carlos Alberto Gonzalez with at least one gunshot wound.
Anson reportedly went to a section of his property, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, to adjust the thermostat located in the hallway of the attached efficiency apartment. He then knocked on the window to gain entrance to the apartment, and when Gonzalez opened the front door, Anson allegedly forced his way inside. "After seconds, I was able to recognize that something wrong was happening in my backyard and I was extremely scared," said Leyani Perez, a resident who lives behind the suspect's home, according to a NBC6 interview.
The situation escalated when Anson purportedly began to punch Gonzalez unprovoked and later dragged him outside to the backyard, where he shot him multiple times in the head, arrest documents stated. Detailing the aftermath of the shooting, an arrest report obtained by Local10 indicated that Anson re-entered the apartment, adjusted the thermostat, and retreated to his home before calling 911. During the emergency call, Anson claimed he acted in self-defense, though deputies confirmed the recovery of his firearm at the scene. Gonzalez later died at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.
Witnesses in the area, some of whom had reportedly seen law enforcement at the residence previously, expressed their concerns. "Deputies have shown up to the home before and that something like this was bound to happen," NBC6 was told by several neighborhood residents. The same news outlet reported that other residents recalled hearing three gunshots. The captured video by a neighbor shows the moment deputies placed Anson in handcuffs, underscoring the gravity of the event that has no doubt disturbed the Westchester community.
Currently held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Adam Louis Anson awaits further legal proceedings. Anson's charges, among them second-degree murder, hint at an encounter that spiraled from a simple domestic conflict into a fatal confrontation, as detailed by CBS News Miami.
