Florida Woman Arrested for Murder After Alleged Bar Altercation With Victim in Miami-dade
MIRAMAR, Fla. – A 29-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday on allegations of murdering a man in Broward County, hours after he hit her in Miami-Dade County.
Detectives suspect Yesenia Collier conspired with a woman and a shooter to kill Alec Hugh-Sam, a Jamaican-American father of two who had lived in South Florida since 2014.
Hugh-Sam and Collier were together before the Miramar tragedy at the Ghost Bar in Davie, and subsequently at Klub 24 in Opa-locka, where he slapped her in the face, according to authorities.
“He shot the [racial slur],” Collier said during a 911 call about the murder in Miramar, according to records from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
During a recorded 911 call, Collier exclaimed, “He shot him! “He shot him.”
According to records, Miramar police officers discovered Hugh-Sam “lying in the middle of the street” on Oct. 3, after Steven LaPenta shot him once at the Avalon Miramar Park Place.
Hugh-Sam, who was born in New Jersey and reared in Jamaica, died at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood after firefighters went to his aid. He was 36.
According to court records, a Florida grand jury indicted Collier, LaPenta, 34, and Lindsey Grinage on October 31 for Hugh-Sam’s murder. LaPenta had already been arrested on October 6.
According to the 69-page indictment, the shooting was purportedly the result of a $3,500 dispute.
On November 1, prosecutors filed a capital-life case against Collier, and a judge issued an arrest warrant. Deputies arrested Grinage, 28, on November 14 and Collier, on Tuesday.
Deputies kept LaPenta at Fort Lauderdale’s main jail and Collier at Pompano Beach’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on Wednesday evening, according to documents.
Grinage had been released from Broward County Jail, while LaPenta and Collier were both charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.