Murder of Liberty City activist was possibly fueled by revenge, police say

After a year-long investigation into the killing of a Liberty City activist who was gunned down while playing dominoes outside his restaurant, police say the man who pulled the trigger may have been seeking to avenge his brother’s killing.

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Homicide detectives arrested 39-year-old Jamar Jenkins Wednesday night on a second-degree murder charge linked to the Oct. 10, 2025, shooting death of Dwight C. Wells, according to the arrest report.

Wells, who founded the Bikes Up, Gunz Down nonprofit, was sitting outside of Winning and Won Turkey Legs restaurant at 5030 NW 17th Ave. around 9:20 p.m. when a masked gunman walked up to him and shot him several times.

The shooter also wore a hooded sweatshirt and gloves, police say.

Miami Fire Rescue paramedics took Wells to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died later that night.

A revenge killing?

Police found five spent semiautomatic bullet casings where Wells was shot, which they collected and entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, linking them to a North Miami case involving Jenkins and his brother, James Wendell Jenkins.

The brothers were arrested on Jan. 1, 2024, for unlawful discharge of a firearm. A Glock 36 pistol was impounded but released back to James Jenkins on March 24, 2025, according to Jamar Jenkins’ arrest warrant.

On Oct. 11, 2025, police interviewed a witness who said that he heard gunshots near his home and saw a man running on Northwest 51st Street toward 18th Avenue. Surveillance footage confirmed that, and the witness added that he saw a man enter a four-door car parked in the swale near the intersection, which then took off.

On Dec. 18, James Jenkins was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license and brought to the Miami Police Department for questioning. He told police that North Miami police gave him his gun back in March 2025. He also said he knew that Wells had been convicted in the death of his brother Anthony Jenkins, who was shot and killed in 2004.

James told police that several members of his family, including his brother Jamar and his cousin Terequon Leonard Williams, were upset with Wells over the murder.

Jamar was the last person to have the gun, James told police, but did not have an exact timeline of where the gun was from May to September 2025.

He denied any involvement in Wells’ killing but said he knew his brother and cousin may have been involved, including by using Jamar’s car, a white Mercedes-Benz.

James told police he remembers seeing Jamar and Williams after the shooting would have taken place. At Jamar’s house, he saw them wearing face covers, and when he asked for the gun back, he was told the gun went “swimming,” according to the warrant.

Police searched James’ residence for the gun, but did not find it.

On Jan. 11, police reviewed call records from Jamar’s phone, which had “steady cellular device activity and geolocation data throughout October 10, 2025,” but had a “void of activity, ranging from approximately 8:46 p.m. through 9:33 p.m.,” the timeframe in which Wells was killed, according to the warrant.

On Jan. 21, police reviewed surveillance footage that showed a white, four-door Mercedes-Benz sedan matching the characteristics of Jamar’s car. It was seen going around the area of the shooting, even passing by it, police say.

On Feb. 4, police say the car was found and stopped in Liberty City with Jamar driving.

He was taken in for questioning, where he denied knowing that Wells was convicted for the murder of his brother. He said he found out Wells was killed from social media and the news.

He also told police the day Wells was killed was his only day off work as a self-employed AC repair technician and a custodian for the Miami Veteran Affairs Medical Center. He said he was asleep at home, that his car stayed parked all day, and that no one else used it.

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Police say he could not explain when shown photos of his car driving around the day of the killing.

On Feb. 25, investigators received the car’s GPS data. Investigators analyzed it using Google Earth Pro to track the car’s movements on Oct. 10, 2025.

The data showed the car traveling about seven miles, leaving and returning to a residence and stopping at multiple locations, with GPS timestamps and locations consistent with surveillance footage captured before and after Wells’ murder, contradicting the claim that the vehicle remained parked all evening.

On May 20, investigators contacted Williams at a residence on Northwest 67th Street, but he became agitated and declined being interviewed. Investigators also noted that his observed height was inconsistent with the estimated height of the unidentified man captured fleeing the murder scene.

Investigators also got a search warrant for records from HamHed, LLC, the company that contracted Williams. His timecard shows he took a sick day on Oct. 9 and was not scheduled to work on Oct. 10 or Oct. 11.

A community leader

Born and raised in Liberty City, Dwight Wells was affectionately known as “Screamer.”

“He was a son that a mother needed,” his mother, Mary Brown, told the Miami Herald last year. “He helped me with my household chores, groceries, he would call an Uber for me. I was so proud of him.”

A 2004 graduate of Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Wells began his activism after serving a 10-year prison sentence. He was convicted of killing a man in Liberty Square after accepting a plea deal.

A March 2007 close-out memo related to Wells’ conviction described a case with limited evidence and witnesses who were unwilling to testify.

After his release, Wells dedicated himself to giving back to his community and was a well-known activist. He founded Bikes Up, Gunz Down, a nonprofit aimed at steering young people away from gun violence by organizing large ATV and dirt bike ride-outs during Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The event drew controversy as hundreds of participants took over entire streets, with some performing dangerous stunts.

His mother said Wells launched the organization after a friend lost a daughter to gun violence.

“He had the whole city in unity,” his longtime friend Quentin told the Herald the day after Wells’ death. “He was a father figure for so many different kids” with Wheels Up, Guns Down.

Wells also organized cemetery cleanups in historically Black neighborhoods, including Lincoln Memorial Park in Brownsville. The cemetery is the final resting place of several prominent Black activists and community leaders, including Dana A. Dorsey, Miami’s first Black millionaire.

Beyond his community work, Wells ventured into entrepreneurship, opening Winning And Won Turkey Legs.

“How is this possible for my brother to be shot dead in front of his own establishment that he worked hard to build up [with] blood, sweat and tears,” Quentin said.

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Miami Herald staff writer Grethel Aguila contrinuted to this report.

This story was originally published October 15, 2026 at 11:25 AM.