Nearly a year after a high-speed chase tore through West Little River, Miami-Dade prosecutors have decided not to charge Sgt. Kelvin Cox in the June 17, 2025 shooting that killed 24-year-old Kristofer Laboy. The State Attorney's Office issued a close-out memorandum this week, saying video and witness testimony backed Cox's account of the confrontation. The case has been a local flashpoint since body-worn footage of the shooting spread online last summer.
Prosecutors' closeout memo
In a memorandum dated May 27, 2026, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office wrote that video evidence and a fellow deputy’s testimony showed Laboy getting out of his vehicle while armed and running directly toward Sgt. Cox. Prosecutors said a reasonable person in Cox’s position would have believed deadly force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, and on that basis they declined to file criminal charges. The close-out memo is the formal document the office uses to wrap up its review of officer-involved shootings.
How the chase ended
According to contemporaneous reporting, deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Robbery Intervention Detail first tried to pull over a yellow Chevrolet Corvette for illegal window tinting near NW 66th Street and NW 22nd Avenue. The driver took off, and the agency’s aviation unit followed the car to a dead end at the Sunset Palm Villas Association complex. It was there, deputies say, that the confrontation unfolded and Laboy was shot. CBS News Miami reported that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation.
What the bodyworn video shows
Body-worn and aerial footage released last July captured the tense moments around the shooting: deputies shouting at the driver to drop a weapon, a brief exchange, and Cox appearing to secure a firearm after the shots, according to contemporaneous coverage. Prosecutors cited that video, along with a fellow deputy’s testimony, in their close-out memo. Coverage in Hoodline’s new bodycam footage piece and other outlets summarized what the recordings showed when they first became public.
Family reaction and calls for transparency
Laboy’s relatives have publicly disputed the sheriff’s account since the June 2025 shooting and have pushed for the release of unedited video and additional details. At a June news conference, family members described Kristofer as a protective and hardworking son and urged investigators and prosecutors to be transparent about how the case was handled. Local 10 reported on the family’s statements and on their attorney’s call for a more complete release of footage.
Officer record and legal framework
Sgt. Cox has spent more than two decades with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and its predecessor agency and was described in earlier reporting as a veteran deputy who had been involved in prior use-of-force incidents. In deciding not to prosecute, the State Attorney’s Office applied Florida’s justifiable-use-of-force statutes, including Florida Statutes §776.012 and §776.05. Those provisions allow officers to use deadly force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. Prosecutors wrote that the available evidence and witness accounts satisfied that legal standard in Cox’s case.
What’s next
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to handle the investigative work that follows deputy-involved shootings, while the State Attorney’s close-out review is limited to deciding whether criminal charges are warranted. The Office of the State Attorney notes that it does not make decisions about internal discipline or civil litigation, so any departmental action or civil claims would proceed on separate tracks. For now, Cox remains on administrative status as the FDLE inquiry moves forward.
