16393: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Little Haiti killings have intriguing similarities (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Aug. 13, 2003

Little Haiti killings have intriguing similarities
BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH
snesmith@herald.com



FATES DIFFER: Himler Francois, left, is living the American dream in Miami.
His brother, Jude, right, was slain in a drug-ridden sector of Little Haiti.


Nine years after Himler Francois fled Haiti to Miami, he has a wife, a
daughter and a job with the foundation headed by former Congresswoman Carrie
Meek.

His is the story of the American dream.

Francois' brother, Jude, followed him two years ago and was working his way
out of poverty. Until last week -- when firefighters found his battered body
in the burned-out wreckage of a Little Haiti apartment.

His is the story of the American nightmare.

Some in Little Haiti think he was caught up in what may turn out to be a
feud among neighborhood drug dealers.

''He died a terrible death,'' said Miami homicide Sgt. Confesor Gonzalez.

Police are not releasing many details about the murder of Jude Francois, 32,
but his family is convinced he was just in the wrong place at the wrong
time.

The place, a corner in Little Haiti known for drug dealing, was where he
rented an efficiency for $395 a month.

Police found a video camera on the roof of the one-story apartment building,
an electronic eye aimed at the street and a monitoring system in the
apartment next to Jude's.

Whoever set up the camera was watching for cops, police think. Another man
police are investigating used to work at the corner of Third Avenue and 80th
Terrace.

Benjamin Valsin's career as a drug dealer ended abruptly on Aug. 1, when
firefighters were called to a burning car at Fourth Place and 80th Terrace.
That's just across the railroad tracks from Jude Francois' apartment.

When they put the blaze out, they found Valsin's body in the trunk.

Valsin, 25, had a record for drug dealing and car theft arrests going back
to 1997 -- one of them at the corner of Third and 80th.

''We recognize the similarities of the two cases and we're looking into
those,'' Gonzalez said. ``But we can't confirm that they're related.''

Fred St. Amand thinks they are. St. Amand owns a local funeral home and runs
the Little Haiti Citizens on Patrol program, in which volunteers roam the
streets trying to discourage crime by simply being around.

St. Amand knows Little Haiti's worst corners, the ones where gangs hang out,
where drugs are easy to come by.

He said he doesn't know who killed Francois or Valsin. But he has his ideas.

''The rumor in the community is yes, they are related, and it seems to be
something about drugs,'' he said.

Asked whether Little Haiti might be in the throes of a drug war, he said,
``I wouldn't disagree with that.''

After a spike in neighborhood violence in June, police began a special
operation aimed at taking dealers and guns off the streets.

''With July 4th weekend coming up, there was just too much gunplay,''
explained Lt. David Magnusson, tactical commander of the crime suppression
unit and leader of what was dubbed ``Operation Relentless.''

''The premise was, first we've got to take away their comfort zone, they're
walking around with guns,'' Magnusson explained.

On any given day, 20 officers are roaming the north end, in addition to the
ones normally patrolling. They've made dozens of arrests, Magnusson said.
And after the first weekend, they've stopped finding people openly carrying
guns.

'Even criminals we pick up, they've told us, `it's too hot out there to be
packing [guns] now,' '' he said.

Magnusson is realistic about the operation -- it isn't going to end crime in
Little Haiti, but it could at least force the people bent on committing
crimes to work a little harder.

''They have to be more stealthy now,'' he said.

And though he said he didn't know much about the two bodies burned beyond
recognition, he noted, ``That's the type of homicide done in a stealthy
manner, as opposed to what we were seeing, spraying the corner [with
bullets.]''

Police are pretty sure Jude Francois was not involved in gangs or drugs.

''All indications are that this guy was an honest, hard-working man who came
to this country to make a living, like most immigrants do,'' Gonzalez said.
``We're baffled. We're just trying to establish a motive.''

Jude Francois came to the United States in 2001, one of six brothers and
three sisters who immigrated from Haiti.

Their mother brought them here one by one, as she could afford to.

''She worked hard all her life,'' Himler Francois said. ``We're all working.
We've always worked hard.''

Himler was among the first in the family to arrive, in 1994. In the
beginning, he went to school while working two jobs, bagging groceries at
Winn-Dixie and Publix.

After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Navy; after discharge,
he did a variety of volunteer jobs. Recently, he began to work for the
Carrie Meek Foundation.

And he hasn't finished his upward effort. He just enrolled in college and
says one day he'd like to be governor of Florida.

The other siblings include a U.S. Marine currently living in North Carolina
and a certified nurse working here in Miami. Others have a variety of jobs.
Alex is working in the kitchen of the same hotel where Jude worked, Himler
said.

But Himler doesn't mention one brother, one who took a different path in
life.

Richard Francois is in a county jail, serving time for drug possession.

''He has problems,'' Himler acknowledged. ``I think he just can't help
himself from doing the wrong thing.''

Himler is sure that Jude was not involved in the drug dealing that is so
pervasive in some parts of Little Haiti.

''I think maybe he saw something, maybe that car fire, maybe he saw who did
it,'' Himler said. ``Maybe someone thinks he called the cops on them . . . I
just don't see anything that would put him in a situation where someone
would want to kill him that bad.''

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS or
the Miami homicide division at 305-579-6530.

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