A 37-year-old Homestead man is facing armed carjacking charges after Miami police say he approached a man digging through his own trunk in Overtown, pulled a gun, and drove off with his car, his keys, and nearly $1,900 in cash. Pierre Smith was taken into custody at his home two days before he was charged, and he now sits behind bars accused of a crime that carries the possibility of life in prison.
According to WPLG Local 10, the incident happened around 3 p.m. on June 22 near Northwest Third Avenue and 10th Street, in the heart of Overtown, a historic neighborhood just northwest of Downtown Miami that falls under the primary patrol jurisdiction of the Miami Police Department. Police say Smith approached a victim who was looking for something in his vehicle's trunk, then allegedly took $100 directly from the man's hand before pulling roughly $1,800 more from his pockets. Per Miami police, Smith then took the victim's car keys and drove away in the man's car, allegedly wielding a gun during the encounter.
Investigators say the vehicle turned up unoccupied along the 400 block of Northwest 19th Street the same day, but with no suspect at the scene, detectives leaned on digital evidence rather than physical evidence to build their case. Miami police obtained a warrant for cell site information, which, per the arrest warrant, indicated Smith had been in the carjacking area before the incident and later near where the car was abandoned. That kind of location tracking has become a routine investigative tool in Miami-Dade, though it comes with strict legal guardrails — following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Carpenter v. United States and Florida's own Tracey v. State precedent, officers must secure a judicial warrant based on probable cause before pulling historical cell-site records, according to the Law Office of W.F. Casey Ebsary Jr.
A Confession and a Prior Murder-Related Conviction
Miami police officers took Smith into custody at his home on August 18, and per an arrest form, he confessed while speaking with officers. A police records check also turned up a 2015 conviction connected to accessory after the fact to a second-degree murder — a detail that could carry significant weight in how prosecutors approach sentencing. Under Florida Statute § 775.084, a defendant with a prior violent felony conviction who commits a new qualifying violent felony can be designated a Habitual Violent Felony Offender, which triggers mandatory minimum prison terms and extended sentencing options, according to the Wiseman Law Firm. That designation requires formal notice from the state attorney's office and is not automatic.
Smith now faces charges of armed carjacking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and the numbers attached to those charges are steep. Armed carjacking with a firearm is classified as a first-degree felony under Florida Statute § 812.133, punishable by up to life in state prison, per attorney Richard Hornsby writing for the Elsea Law Firm. If prosecutors prove Smith actually possessed the firearm during the crime, Florida's 10-20-Life law under Florida Statute § 775.087 would add a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence on top of whatever underlying penalty he receives, according to the Sammis Law Firm. The felon-in-possession charge alone carries up to 15 years and a 3-year mandatory minimum if prosecutors show he physically held the weapon, per Demmery Law.
Held at TGK as Bond Remains Unset
Smith is currently held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, the roughly 1,300-bed intake and booking facility located at 7000 NW 41st Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade County that serves as the county's primary hub for adult arrestees, according to Miami-Dade County. As of the latest reporting, his bond had not yet been set.
The case adds to a string of carjacking incidents Miami-Dade law enforcement has grappled with this year. Hoodline has previously reported on a trash can hideout after I-95 chase in Miami Gardens, as well as a violent carjacking spree that left three people hospitalized in southwest Miami-Dade in June. Citywide, Miami police recorded 3,470 motor vehicle thefts in 2024 alone, according to the Law Offices of Barry M. Wax — a baseline that underscores how often these cases land on detectives' desks. To manage the volume, the Miami Police Department runs a centralized Real-Time Crime Center linked to more than 1,500 surveillance cameras, which helps detectives cross-reference digital evidence like cell data with physical leads during major investigations, per SoundThinking.
