PBSO arrests man on murder charge after fatal shooting at apartment complex near West Palm

A 33-year-old man remains in custody following his arrest last week in connection to a fatal shooting that occurred April 20 in suburban West Palm Beach.

Keith Montel Dawkins is facing one count of first-degree murder in the death of Jostin Mirabile, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report. Dawkins, of suburban West Palm Beach, also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Witnesses identified another man as the person who fired the fatal shots. The Palm Beach Post is not identifying him as jail records indicate that he has not been taken into custody.

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Dawkins made his initial appearance before a judge on April 26, one day after his arrest. County Judge Ted Booras ordered that Dawkins be held without bail on the murder charge and set his bail at $100,000 for the weapons-possession charge in the event another judge permits Dawkins' release.

Booras assigned a public defender to represent Dawkins. As a policy, the county Public Defender's Office does not comment on local cases. Dawkins told investigators prior to his arrest that he had nothing to do with the fatal shooting.

According a sheriff's arrest report, the fatal shooting occurred at an apartment complex on the 1100 block of Lake Victoria Drive, west of Florida's Turnpike and north of Belvedere Road. Witnesses told investigators that Mirabile frequently hung out there, working on motorcycles and dirt bikes.

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Investigators alleged that Dawkins was the driver of one of two suspect vehicles captured on surveillance-camera video at about the time of the shooting. According to the arrest report, the suspected shooter was seen just moments after the homicide getting into a Chevrolet Impala driven by Dawkins.

Dawkins traveled to another community half a mile to the north, where the other man was seen exiting the vehicle, the arrest report said. Hawkins then drove to his place of work, an oil-change shop about two miles away, on the 1900 block of North Jog Road.

According to the report, Dawkins placed a box in storage, returned to the business the next day, removed something from the box and placed it in his vehicle. Then he threw the empty box onto the floor next the shop's storage door.

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Driver denied any role in fatal shooting during PBSO questioning

On the night of April 21, sheriff's tactical agents stopped the Impala in traffic. They identified Dawkins as the driver and questioned him about the homicide, the report said.

Dawkins denied having any knowledge of the incident and told investigators he was at work that day. After seeing the surveillance footage, he acknowledged being at the apartment complex the previous day, but denied hearing any gunfire or witnessing the shooting.

He told investigators an acquaintance who frequently asks for money got into the passenger seat of his car, and that he dropped that person off before continuing his drive to work. He denied providing the passenger with a firearm or knowing that a shooting was going to occur, the arrest report said.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham . Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PBSO arrests man on murder charge after fatal shooting at apartment complex near West Palm