{"id":418,"date":"2026-05-13T16:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:02:00","slug":"track-coach-convicted-of-sexually-abusing-athlete-gets-remaining-cases-dropped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418","title":{"rendered":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Miami Gardens track coach convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old female athlete \u2014 and accused of molesting several other girls \u2014 will soon be off to prison after prosecutors dropped the remaining charges against him.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=416\">MDSO asks for public\u2019s help after it says suspect almost ran over detectives<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors announced their decision in the case of Darius Lawshea, 50, during a Tuesday morning hearing. The Miami Gardens Xpress track club founder faced a slew of charges in six other cases. The victims in all the cases were student-athletes in his track and field program, court records show.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Months earlier, a jury found Lawshea, known as \u201cCoach D,\u201d guilty \u2014 and Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson sentenced him to 50 years behind bars.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors, the Miami-Dade State Attorney\u2019s Office told the Miami Herald, dropped the remaining charges after victims said they \u201cwere satisfied\u201d with Lawshea\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>READ MORE: Miami Gardens track coach sentenced for sexually abusing teen athlete<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey advised the [prosecutor] that they did not wish to pursue the remaining cases,\u201d the State Attorney\u2019s Office said. \u201cAs a result, the cases were dropped&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The first victim to come forward said she was abused in 2010 but didn\u2019t report the abuse to police until a decade later because \u201cshe was fearful because Mr. Lawshea was loved by everyone in the community and she didn\u2019t want to get into trouble.\u201d She said she was pushed to report the abuse after discovering that Lawshea also molested her younger sister.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=414\">Man pleads guilty to South Beach tourist murder. He said he was high on mushrooms<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>During the trial, prosecutor Lily Wisset said Lawshea abused his authority and stature as a community leader when he took advantage of girls he was coaching. Lawshea\u2019s attorney, Ariel Lett, however, argued that the case was built on inconsistencies, with the testimony of victims \u201cevolving\u201d as time went on. Lett also pointed to the lack of physical evidence.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A victim, during Lawshea\u2019s sentencing, recounted her trauma as she \u201cwatched her innocence taken by someone who was supposed to guide her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA real coach protects you. A real coach respects boundaries. A real coach does not abuse power &#8230; for their own benefit,\u201d the victim said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Before meting out Lawshea\u2019s sentence, Judge Wolfson said the testimony presented in the trial showed Lawshea\u2019s \u201cegregious manipulation\u201d of a young girl who believed he was the \u201ckey to her future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=412\">Bon Jovi\u2019s youngest just graduated from UM. What we know about him<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuite frankly, it sickens me,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Darius Lawshea, accused of sexually abusing his track athletes, had six cases dropped months after he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for one case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Darius Lawshea, accused of sexually abusing his track athletes, had six cases dropped months after he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for one case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"headline\":\"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418\"},\"wordCount\":441,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Crime\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418\",\"name\":\"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=418#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle","og_description":"Darius Lawshea, accused of sexually abusing his track athletes, had six cases dropped months after he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for one case","og_url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418","og_site_name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"headline":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped","datePublished":"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418"},"wordCount":441,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg","articleSection":["Crime"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418","name":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped - Florida Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-13T16:02:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fef321a71206bb53ba6cba3c4de1be4e.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=418#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Track coach convicted of sexually abusing athlete gets remaining cases dropped"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}