Two men face charges in fatal shooting of mother, baby on Florida’s Turnpike

Two men are now facing charges in connection with a shooting on Florida’s Turnpike in Broward County this June that killed a mother and her 4-year-old daughter, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said Friday night.

Antoine Harris, 28, and Jaquan Thomas, 29, are each facing two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Beatrice Saintvil, and her daughter, Janelle Souffrant. Detectives received warrants for their arrest Wednesday.

After authorities received reports of a shooting shortly before midnight on June 7, Saintvil and her daughter were found by Florida Highway Patrol troopers inside of a car parked in the left emergency lane near Mile Marker 49 south of Hollywood Boulevard. Janelle was pronounced dead there, the Sheriff’s Office said, while Saintvil died at a hospital.

The Sheriff’s Office did not provide further information about the investigation that led to Harris’s and Thomas’s arrests, or say whether the shootings were targeted or random.

Investigators found and arrested Harris on Friday in Miami Gardens. Thomas was already in custody in Georgia on unrelated charges as of Friday and will be extradited to Broward County, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Reward increased to $20,000 for tips in murder of mother, baby on Florida’s Turnpike

A little over a month after the shooting, Harris was arrested by deputies in Broward County in a separate case, court records show. Detectives with the Violence Intervention Proactive Enforcement Response Unit, known as VIPER, were surveilling him “in assisting BSO Homicide with an investigation” and attempted to pull him over for driving with a suspended license, according to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest.

Harris then allegedly intentionally hit a deputy’s car with his own twice, the affidavit said. Deputies began chasing him from Interstate 95 near Griffin Road south into North Miami, where he was arrested. The Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit watched him throw something out of the window during the suit, which was later found to be a bag with two guns inside, the affidavit said.

He pleaded not guilty to charges in that case, which was still pending at the time of his arrest. He has also been arrested on charges in Miami-Dade County in previous years, court records show.

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