A suburban Atlanta man, high and "empowered" by magic mushrooms, randomly gunned down a young father as he tried to shield his 1-year-old son from gunfire at a Miami Beach, Florida, restaurant, authorities said.
Tamarius Blair Davis, 22, of Norcross, Georgia, was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection the incident, Miami Beach police said in a statement Wednesday.
The deadly shooting happened a little before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the patio dining area of La Cerveceria de Barrio. Davis surrendered in a nearby alley and allegedly told police the attack was random.
"The defendant stated he was high on mushrooms which made him feel empowered," according to an arrest report.
Dustin Wakefield, 21, died as he dined with his family near 14th Street and Ocean Drive, his loved ones said. Wakefield was on vacation from Castle Rock, Colorado, where he was employed as a construction worker.
"Dustin was a very amazing young man. He cared about whoever he met. He loved his family dearly," the victim's uncle, Mike Wakefield, told The Associated Press. "Anytime you would meet Dustin, he always had a smile on his face."
The tragic turn of events also shocked the suspect's father, Tommy Davis, who said his son has never been in trouble or had mental health issues.
"This is an unlikely thing," Tommy Davis told The Associated Press. "We are trying to find out what happened. You can imagine we were shocked."
It wasn't immediately clear Thursday if the suspect had hired or been assigned an attorney.
He was being held without bond at the Miami-Dade County Jail, police said.
CORRECTION (Aug. 26, 2021, 11:50 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misidentified the news organization to which Mike Wakefield spoke. He gave the quote to The Associated Press, not KUSA.
