Kareem Jobbar Lightbourne {BSO}
A fugitive accused of murdering a man in Lauderhill in 2002 was arrested Wednesday following a manhunt that spanned over 21 years, authorities said Thursday.
Kareem Jobbar Lightbourne, 47, allegedly fled Florida after FBI agents say he fatally shot Kirk Ennis, 23, who had been staying with Lightbourne’s ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Monifa Smith, in December 2002. The FBI tracked Lightbourne to the Dominican Republic, where he was detained by authorities and expelled to the U.S. for immigration violations.
Lightbourne had entered Smith’s home and allegedly shot Ennis before kidnapping Smith and her 2-year-old son at gunpoint, law enforcement officials said after the killing. According to a 2002 Sun Sentinel article, Lightbourne allegedly drove around with Smith in his car until she escaped about two hours later near a grocery store on State Road 7.
Lightbourne and Smith had lived together in the apartment where the killing happened, in the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Street, but the relationship soured, and Lightbourne moved out a month before the murder, the article stated.
The night before the killing, Smith met up with Ennis – whom she had known about a year – and went back to her apartment together, law enforcement officials told the Sentinel at the time.
Authorities said Lightbourne later fled Florida. According to court records, a BSO investigation initially revealed he had borrowed $500 and was headed to his mother’s home in Maryland.
Bureau officials said that after learning of Lightbourne’s escape to the Dominican Republic, the FBI obtained a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant for his arrest.
Lightbourne is charged with crimes that include first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, and grand theft, court records show.
He was being held without bond Thursday at the Broward Main Jail.
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Author Profile
- Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.
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