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Charles Bryan Stafford
- Jun. 11, 1991 -
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(233)
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Resided: |
Miami Springs (Miami-Dade County) FL, USA
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Born: | Jul. 22, 1963 |
Fallen: | Jun. 11, 1991 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 27 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Miami Springs Police Dept.
201 Westward Drive Miami Springs, FL
33166 USA (305)888-9711 |
County: | Miami-Dade |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 10/1989 |
FBI Class: | Traffic - Vehicle Stop |
Weapon Class: | Vehicle |
Agency URL: | Click Here
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Badge: | 88 |
On The Job: |
2 years
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Bio: Charles Brian Stafford was born on July 22, 1963, in Hialeah, FL, to Ervin and Grace Greenhaw Stafford. He was the fifth of six siblings (William, Darlene, Deborah, Richard, Charles and MaryAnn) His maternal grandfather, William Greenhaw, was a police officer for Miami Beach and the City of Miami before retiring as a Capt. with the Miami Springs Police Dept. in 1963. Charles attended North Hialeah Elementary School through the 3rd grade before the family moved to Lake City. In Lake City he attended Melrose Park Elementary School and Minnie J. Niblack Elementary School, Lake City Jr. H.S., and Colombia H.S., graduating in 1981. In high school he was on the basketball team and in the Mechanics Club.
After graduation from H.S., Stafford worked as a prison guard in Baker County before moving to Miami in 1985. He worked at the South FL Reception Center in West Dade and then at the Miami North Work Release Center. While working midnights at the work release center, Sgt. Stafford took afternoon classes at the Broward County police academy.
Stafford joined the Miami Springs Police Dept. in Oct. of 1989. After arresting 16 people in May of 1990, he was named Officer of the Month by his department. His special expertise was spotting stolen cars, a skill which led to his death.
Charles Stafford was a big man (6'2" and 260 lbs.) and was known to his fellow officers as "Bubba." He spent a lot of time with fellow Miami Springs Officer Jeff Clark. They had lunch together almost every day and often went fishing and to car shows together. They were planning to renovate Stafford's 1970 Chevrolet pick-up truck.
In 1987 Charles Stafford, 25, married Cecilia Silveira, 25, of Hialeah, who also worked at the S. FL Reception Center. Their first child, Natalie, was born in 1987, and the second, Katherine, in 1991 (nine weeks before her father's death). Officer Stafford enjoyed spending time at his Kendall home with his wife and young daughters and was also fond of fishing and "fiddling with old cars." However, the time Stafford had to spend with his family and hobbies was limited as he also worked off-duty jobs at several hotels to raise extra money for his family. |
Survived by: |
and two daughters, Natalie Elyse, 3, and Katherine Elizabeth, 3 months; his father, Ervin J. Stafford, 63, and mother, Grace Stafford, of Lake City; two brothers, William E. Stafford of Lake City and Richard A. Stafford of Live Oak; three sisters, Darlene Lane, Deborah J. Collins and MaryAnn Bishop, all of Lake City; a grandmother, Ruth Greensaw of Lake Wales; and seven nephews and two nieces
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Merrit Alonzo Sims :: Black
/
Male
- 24 years old
DOB: August 10, 1966
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Pic 1
Pic 2
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Location: |
Miami Springs,
MiamiDade County,
FL
USA
Tue. Jun. 11, 1991
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Summary: |
Charles Bryan Stafford, 28, became the first Miami Springs police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the 65-year history of the city department when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop on June 11, 1991. Stafford had been a member of the 38-man Miami Springs police force for only 1 & 1/2 years.
On Tuesday, June 11, 1991, Stafford was working the 3:00PM to 11:00PM shift. He had dinner that evening with his friend and fellow officer Jeff Clark and dispatcher Charlene Navarro.
While on routine patrol shortly before 9:00PM, Stafford noticed a suspicious car, a white 1978 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, with three black male occupants on Kenmore Drive in Miami Springs. The officer apparently recognized the stolen Cadillac from a police report distributed earlier in the day to all Springs officers.
Stafford, who had a reputation for being able to spot stolen cars, followed the Cadillac onto State Road 112 and radioed in the tag number (GYJ40G). He told the dispatcher (Charlene Navarro) that he suspected the car fit the description of a stolen car bulletin he received earlier that evening. Navarro reported back that the car had been reported stolen the day before (Monday).
Stafford called for a backup and was told a Sgt. was on his way. In fact, Sgt. Don Pessolano was on his way to backup Stafford as were Officers Jeff Clark and Sheryll Kumm, Lt. Pete Baan, and Detectives Steve Carlisle and Jon Kahn.
Stafford continued to follow the stolen Cadillac out of his Miami Springs jurisdiction onto the expressway. He radioed in other details about the Cadillac (e.g., that it had a cracked windshield, that a gold baseball cap emblazoned with the words, "Morgantown, Pennsylvania" was visible in the car, and that a pink and blue "Buckle Up, Miami" sticker was affixed to the bumper) while waiting for the backup to arrive.
Stafford followed the stolen car at a distance and without flashing lights "giving his backup time to catch up before making himself known." However, it appears that the occupants of the stolen car realized they were being followed by a patrol car and the driver stopped the Cadillac on the State Road 112 exit ramp at N.W. 27th Ave. "It looks as if Stafford was surprised when the car stopped on the exit ramp and that he switched on the roof lights there." Stafford, deciding not to wait on his backup, got out of his car and approached the Cadillac.
According to the driver's (later) confession, Stafford approached the car with his gun drawn but eventually holstered it. He told the driver, Merrit Alonzo Sims, 24, that the car had been reported stolen. Sims insisted that the car belonged to his cousin and was not stolen (not knowing that his cousin had reported it stolen). Sims became increasingly angry and snatched the officer's police radio and struck the officer on the head with it. Although stunned, Stafford "grappled" with Sims and drew his gun.
A passing motorist would later testify that Stafford, bleeding from the head, holstered his gun while trying to handcuff Sims who was leaning forward from the waist over the side of the Cadillac's trunk. The officer managed to get a cuff on Sims' left wrist. Sims later testified that he reached back with his right hand and took the officer's Glock 9mm automatic from its holster (Stafford hadn't fastened the snap that secured the gun).
As the two men struggled over the weapon, Stafford was knocked to the pavement. Sims then shot Stafford twice (in the neck and left shoulder) while the officer was still on the pavement. The prosecution would later describe the shooting of Stafford as "almost execution style" as he was shot "from a high angle" while he was unarmed and helpless on the pavement.
The fatal first shot, fired from no more than six inches away, hit Stafford in the left side of the neck just above the collarbone. The second shot struck Stafford just below the collarbone on the right side of his chest. Experts said the gunman pulled the trigger from no more than a foot away. (PBA HEAT, March1994) Sgt. Pessalano, the backup, arrived one minute after Stafford's last transmission and found the officer bleeding on the ground and a "hysterical witness" holding his hand. The witness had stopped her car when she saw the officer lying on the ground. (She later testified that she saw Sims driving away seconds before police arrived.) A second backup officer, Jeff Clark, knelt and held Stafford (his friend whom he had dinner with earlier that evening) who was bleeding from bullet wounds in his neck and chest.
Fire Rescue was called and began CPR at the scene before transporting the mortally wounded officer to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was admitted to the Emergency Room at 9:11PM where doctors found him to be unconscious and with gunshot wounds to the left neck and right chest. Cecilia Stafford was rushed to the hospital and waited with her husband's best friend, FL City policeman Brian Smith.
The attending physicians tried a thoracotomy and open cardiac massage during thirty-five minutes of "full resuscitation code" but "without result." Stafford was pronounced dead at 9:52PM. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds. Rescue workers later said the neck wound was so severe that if they had been on the scene when the shooting took place, Stafford still would not have survived.
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Disposition: |
The jury did not buy the self-defense claim and, on Jan. 12, convicted Sims of first degree murder and robbery with a firearm. After the conviction, a sentencing hearing was held and the jury voted 8-4 to recommend the death penalty. On March 18, 1994, Dade Circuit Judge Thomas Carney sentenced Sims to the electric chair for the murder of Officer Charles Stafford.
Sims became one of twelve men sitting on FL's death row for the murder of Dade law enforcement officers. One had been on death row for 18 years. In 1995, Merrit Alonso Sims was still on FL's death row.
On July 12, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court vacated Sims' convictions and sentence, and remanded the case to be re-tried in Miami-Dade County court.
On 6/.24/13, Cecilia Stafford stood in a Miami-Dade courtroom, stared at Merrit Sims, the man who twenty years ago shot and killed her husband, Miami Springs officer Charles Stafford. "On behalf of my family, my children and myself, may you rot in hell," Stafford said.
Sims listened stoically and then accepted a plea deal on a second degree murder charge that will keep him in jail for the next 25 years.
Sims will NOT get any credit for any time served. |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE COUNTY, FL, 1895-1995
by William Wilbanks
Louisville: Turner Publications
1996
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Source: |
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