{"id":270600,"date":"2026-05-14T08:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270600\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:20:24","slug":"mom-speaks-out-after-man-pleads-guilty-to-sons-2021-murder-in-miami-beach-nbc-6-south-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270600\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom speaks out after man pleads guilty to son\u2019s 2021 murder in Miami Beach \u2013 NBC 6 South Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A mother was relieved after the man accused of murdering her son in Miami Beach in 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/local\/man-high-on-mushrooms-when-he-fatally-shot-miami-beach-tourist-in-2021-pleads-guilty\/3808616\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">pleaded guilty<\/a> to the killing.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with NBC6 on Wednesday, Lora Wakefield described the last several years as an emotional roller coaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor four or five years we&#8217;ve been waiting on movement,\u201d Wakefield said. \u201cTaking a life is not OK.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Wakefield sat in a Miami-Dade County courtroom, virtually, and watched the man accused of murdering her son, 21-year-old Dustin Wakefield, plead guilty to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and child abuse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a relief that I finally see movement,\u201d Wakefield said.<\/p>\n<p>Tamarius Blair Davis said he was high on mushrooms when he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/local\/shooting-on-ocean-drive-in-miami-beach-leaves-1-man-dead\/2536648\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/local\/shooting-on-ocean-drive-in-miami-beach-leaves-1-man-dead\/2536648\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">randomly and fatally shot<\/a> Dustin Wakefield, who was eating dinner with his family at a restaurant on Aug. 24, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778746824_759_Young-Father-Killed-in-South-Beach-Remembered-in-Vigil.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\"Dustin Wakefield\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tCourtesyCourtesy<\/p>\n<p>Dustin Wakefield<\/p>\n<p>According to an arrest report, Davis, now 27, told police he approached the patio area of the La Cerveceria restaurant on Ocean Drive and randomly decided to shoot Wakefield, who was on vacation from Castle Rock, Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>In a short video taken immediately after the shooting, people are heard screaming. A witness said he appeared to be celebrating, dancing over the victim&#8217;s body.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Wakefield, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/he-was-a-bright-light-victims-uncle-speaks-after-nephew-killed-by-man-police-say-was-high-on-mushrooms\/2537461\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/he-was-a-bright-light-victims-uncle-speaks-after-nephew-killed-by-man-police-say-was-high-on-mushrooms\/2537461\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the victim\u2019s uncle<\/a>, said in a Facebook post that Dustin Wakefield died protecting his 1-year-old son.<\/p>\n<p>Lora Wakefield described her son as a protector who leaned heavily on his faith.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I were to say Jesus was on this Earth, he represented Jesus very well,\u201d Wakefield said. \u201cStill, as a mom, it&#8217;s hard, I miss his presence and his hugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said she&#8217;s already forgiven Davis, and that&#8217;s helped her get through the last several years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI pray to God that this man is remorseful for his soul sake, I forgive him for his soul sake because he did a horrible thing, and there&#8217;s no justifying that,\u201d Wakefield said.<\/p>\n<p>She hopes that change and something positive come from her family&#8217;s pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ask that for the world to still be a light and love to the person in front of me and to remember him that way,\u201d Wakefield said.\u00a0\u201cThe world lost a beautiful light.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A judge will decide Davis&#8217; fate at a future sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mother was relieved after the man accused of murdering her son in Miami Beach in 2021 pleaded&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,1642,125,124],"class_list":["post-270600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-beach","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}