Miami News Blog

Kevin Klym, the boyfriend of murdered tourist Paula Sladewski, went on the Today show this morning and said the recently released sketch of the man supposedly last seen with her looks like a bouncer from Club Space.

In his first TV interview, he placed blame on Club Space. He said the bouncer in question double-ID'd Sladewski when they first entered the club even though she didn't look underage.

He then said the same bouncer escorted him out of the club. Klym says, despite previous reports, he never had an argument with his girlfriend.

He said Sladewski might have been slightly intoxicated but was capable of making good decisions and had her ID and debit card on her.

​Nearly a month after the body of aspiring model Paula Sladewski was found in flames in a dumpster, North Miami Police have finally released a sketch of a man they say witnesses last saw her with.

Sladewski was visiting Miami with her boyfriend, Kevin Klym, to catch Lady Gaga's New Year's Eve concert. That Saturday night, the two went to Club Space in downtown Miami. After a fight, Klym was kicked out, and surveillance video showed Sladewski leaving the club alone around 7:20 a.m.

Witnesses say they saw her leaving with a "black male." Police had promised to release a sketch earlier but said that they didn't have enough information from witnesses to piece it together.

A reward for information leading to the culprit's arrest has been raised to $15,000. Those with tips are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).

Miami-Dade Corrections

Miami Police are investigating Jonathan Henry Cobb in connection with a murder in Overtown.

​Don't be surprised if aggressive cop eluder Jonathan Henry Cobb ends up on a future episode of the First 48, A&E's cop reality drama that often features Miami's top homicide investigators on the case. 

Eighteen-year-old Chonshi Thompson died Thursday morning in the South Beach parking garage near 1601 Washington Ave. Two other victims were involved: 18-year-old Sandro Louis was shot in the groin, and 21-year-old Cesar Gonzalez took a bullet to his left hand. Both had fled the scene by the time police arrived. All three are from the Fort Lauderdale/Pompano Beach areas. 

​Miami Beach Police were called this morning to Akoya, the luxury high-rise condo with the familiar crown-like structure on top in Mid-Beach, to face the possibility of a jumper. When they arrived at 7 a.m., they found the dead body of a man on the south side of the building.

Inside an apartment in the building, they found the dead body of a woman riddled with stab wounds. Police aren't confirming the incident was a murder-suicide, but they are investigating the possibility that the man killed the woman before jumping to his death.

via City of Miami Police Department

​On December 29 around 11 p.m., the call came in: A woman was being assaulted near NE 70th Street and North Miami Avenue.

​Your pride at making the varsity squad notwithstanding, if you're the type of person who might conceivably bust a cap in some fool's ass over a dispute at the corner store, you should probably leave your high school letter jacket in the closet. You really can't go wrong with a dark hoodie.

Just before 8 p.m. Tuesday, January 5, 27-year-old Robert Yoker got into an argument with an unidentified man in Sam's Food Market at 8290 N. Miami Avenue. That's when the other man, a black male in his 20s, pulled out a piece and shot Yoker before running away. Yoker survived.

Miami-Dade cops got the store's surveillance tapes -- and identified the shooter's black-and-yellow coat as a Jackson Senior High School jacket. That certainly helped narrow the field a bit.

Police are searching for a new person of interest in the murder of Paula Sladewski, the aspiring model who was found burned to death in a dumpster in North Miami-Dade after traveling to Miami for a Lady Gaga concert New Year's Eve.

Last Wednesday, the early contender for young 2010's most senseless murder of the year went down at the People's Self-Storage on NW 79th Street.

via Miami Dade Corrections

Police say Wesley Benard Henton shot and killed Joslin Augustin last Wednesday.

​Just after 12:30 in the afternoon, a 55-year-old Haitian-American woman named Joslin Augustin visited the center to pick up some blankets and warm clothes she'd stored there after losing her job last year.

Paula Sladewski

​Paula Sladewski regularly sent text messages to a former boyfriend that boyfriend Kevin Klym was trying to kill him, according to her Stepfather.

Richard Watkins, the stepfather, spoke to FoxNews.com and says that since her body was found burned in a dumpster in north Miami-Dade, he's been in contact with one of Sladewski's former boyfriends.

He says that Sladewski sent text messages about Klym to the ex-boyfriend that read, "help me, I'm in trouble, he's trying to kill me." Though, it's not clear if any of those texts were sent while the pair were on vacation in Miami.

via Explore Talent

​Hey rest of the media, can we have a chat? So, a pretty young girl winds up burned to death in a dumpster somewhere in North Miami-Dade, and all anyone can focus on is the fact that she once appeared in a Playboy video?

Over 80 girls are listed in the credits for that video, and the description boasts that over 6,000 aspiring models were involved in Playboy's pseudo-reality TV hunt for their next Playmate. There's no indication that the victim, Paula Sladewski, actually posed for Playboy or its website. In fact, her family tells The Herald that nothing big ever came out of her modeling career. 

Yet, CBS News seems to be the biggest culprit blaring "Playboy Model," in the headline. One affiliate even called her a top Playboy model, which, as far as we can tell, is not really the truth.

via Explore Talent

​Police have identified a body found in a burning trash can as 26-year-old tourist Paula Sladewski.

The body was found on NE 130th Street in an area full of auto body shops.

According to the Miami Herald, Sladewski, a Michigan native who resided in Rancho Cucamonga, California, traveled to Miami for New Year's Eve with her live-in boyfriend. The pair took in a show by Lady Gaga during the holiday and visited Club Space Sunday evening.

The boyfriend told police they got into an argument, and she went missing. He contacted her family Monday, the same day the body was found. Dental records were used today to identify her. The boyfriend remains a person of interest in the case.

The Herald also reports Sladewski had earlier pursued a career in modeling without much success. Portfolios are available online, and an IMDb page in her name lists "Playboy: The Ultimate Playmate Search," as its sole credit.

RJ Lockwood

​Six years ago, RJ Lockwood was found dead four days into the new year inside the Overtown loft where he was staying with friends. The last call that had been made from his cell phone was to 911 at 11:57 p.m. New Year's Eve.

At the crime scene, authorities came to the conclusion that Lockwood had died of a drug overdose. Not until January 7, 2004, did the county medical examiner determine that drugs hadn't been the cause of the death. A gunshot wound to the chest would send authorities into a frenzy into now trying to solve an apparent homicide.

Unfortunately, after discovering the body three days earlier, police had told Lockwood's roommate, Stefan VonFouts, to clean up the place after the body had been removed. This despite VonFouts' suspicion that somebody had been in the apartment with Lookwood.

New Times covered the murder mystery in a 2004 feature story, "Hardcore and Bleeding." To this day, Lockwood's murder remains unsolved, mainly because of the authorities' sloppy investigation at the scene.

Facebook photo

Jaclyn Torrealba

​Well-known Miami DJ Juan Carlos Portieles, known professionally as DJ Seasunz, turned himself in to police yesterday after driving around with the dead body of his 18-year-old girlfriend, Jaclyn Torrealba. The 30-year-old Portieles is charged with second-degree murder. Read the arrest affidavit here. 

Miami-Dade Police found a young Hialeah man dead this morning outside of the Days Inn Miami International Airport Hotel. He was identified at 3:30 a.m. as 21-year-old Raudel Sanchez.

The noisy,  hotel is located on NW 11th Street on the southwest side of the airport. Not much is yet known about Sanchez. Records show he has no criminal history in Miami-Dade or Broward. He has only one dismissed infraction for fishing on a bridge.

Managers at Days Inn did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Homicide detectives are now investigating. Contact Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS with information.

Update: Witnesses say he was shot at Club Mystique, which shares the the same address as the hotel. Police found him dead outside the club.

Gregory Poux was killed last night around the corner from New Times, at the Windwood Car Wash on NE Second Avenue.

The 34-year-old who lived up the street in Little Haiti was shot multiple times and then died at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The Miami Herald and cops portrayed the death as tragic. He cared for his handicapped mom. His son misses him.

Now, we don't mean to be insensitive. Maybe it was just a random crime and he was just a victim. But two things point to the fact that it might have been something more than just tragic.

First, his criminal record: Poux had been charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, and most recently possession of pot. Four felonies since 1999. He was found guilty on some charges and cleared on others.

Second, Manny Rodriguez, a 62-year-old who has been using the car wash for more than 30 years, says it is no crime mecca. "I can't believe it," he told me. "In all the years I have been coming here, nothing like this has ever happened."

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Riptide is a nonviolent blog, but we're all for self-preservation. And there really is no activity more South Floridian than pulling a gun and blasting on the schlub who just pulled a gun on you. So this evening, we propose a toast to the yet unnamed clerk at La Catrachita #2, the convenience store located at 1712 NW 36 St., who went all Gran Torino on an armed robber this afternoon. 

According to a Miami Police news bulletin, a man entered the convenience store just after 1 p.m. and attempted to stick up "multiple patrons." Instead, a clerk pulled a gun and "an exchange of gunshots took place between the subject and the store manager." The robber was struck, stumbled from the store, and collapsed dead around the corner.

It's not getting any results in Google Translate, but we're guessing "La Catrachita" means "The Large-Testicled Clerk."

Police this morning released the first details of a Saturday-night murder in Allapattah -- including a sketch of the prime suspect in the killing.

Around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, someone shot a man named Hector Belgrade near 2261 NW 28th St. and then ran off, says Det. Juan D'Elia of the Miami Police Department.

Belgrade had no criminal convictions, based on Riptide's search of public records.

Police believe the shooter is the man pictured in this sketch.

Know where to find this guy? Or have any other juicy info about the murder? Call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS.