Man accused of killing Bahamian artist in Miami-Dade traffic stop facing charges

Crime admin September 10, 2026 0 Comments

Man accused of killing Bahamian artist in Miami-Dade traffic stop facing charges

A man who has been held in Miami-Dade County jail on a military desertion warrant since last week now faces felony charges in connection to the death of a Bahamian artist who was killed in a car crash following a sheriff’s office traffic stop.

Luis Manual Perez, 21, deserted his post at Fort Bliss in Texas in February, according to the U.S. Army. On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Perez slammed his 2018 Ford Mustang into a car driven by Stefan Germaine Davis, 55, a well-known portrait painter in the Bahamas.

READ MORE: Man killed in Miami-Dade traffic stop was celebrated artist: Bahamian government

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics took Davis to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.

The chaotic crash began with a traffic stop in a Northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood around 7:40 p.m. that day. According to Perez’s arrest report, he was driving south on Northwest 32nd Avenue loudly revving his Mustang’s engine. A deputy working a robbery detail pulled him over.

Perez gave the deputy his driver’s license, and the deputy took it back to his patrol car to run a check. When he did, he saw Perez had a warrant for desertion and a U.S. Marshal’s hold, according to the report. The deputy radioed for another deputy for backup, the report states.

When the other deputy arrived, both went back to Perez’s car and ordered him to come out. Instead, he sped off west on 51st Terrace and hit a stop sign on 32nd Avenue, according to the report. He continued west until running into a dead end, according to the report.

The two deputies in two patrol cars “followed from a distance” as Perez made a U-turn and accelerated east on 51st Terrace, the report states, blew a stop sign and crashed into a 2026 Ford Mustang driven by Davis, who was heading north on 33rd Avenue.

Perez’s Mustang flipped on impact and crashed into an unmarked car that was driven by the deputy who provided backup. The sheriff’s office said the deputy was treated at the scene for his injuries.

Deputies arrested Perez and questioned him at the sheriff’s office headquarters. After being read his rights, he told deputies that he said to himself, “I’m not going to jail today” and “threw the vehicle into first gear,” the report states.

Perez had been sitting in jail at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center since last week on the Marshals hold. Detectives consulted with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Wednesday and re-booked Perez on vehicular homicide and felony fleeing and eluding police charges.

As of Thursday, a judge has not set bond on the vehicular homicide charge, but did set a bond of $2,500 on the fleeing and eluding count, according to jail records.