A homeless man arrested Tuesday on a charge of murder at a downtown eatery is among the 1,800 sexual offenders Florida law enforcement officials have recently lost track of since their release from prison, The Herald has learned.
Tyrone Daniel Clark, a 43-year-old military veteran, was charged in the fatal stabbing of a good Samaritan who came to the aid of the restaurant owner as she was being robbed and stabbed.
Clark shows up as an ''absconder'' in the state's Sexual Offenders and Predators registry maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement -- meaning that the state was unaware of his current address.
He had been arrested on Feb. 16 for felony cocaine possession, but Miami police did not know he was wanted for failing to report his whereabouts to state authorities. He was released on his own recognizance, Miami-Dade court records indicated.
Clark was in the state registry because he was convicted of sexually abusing minors in 1997 and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He was released in 2001 and was required under state law to report his whereabouts to authorities.
He did -- but only until May 2004, when he last provided a verified address.
''That he is wanted for absconding is not normally going to come up when a police officer runs him, unless it's been entered in the system,'' said Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss.
Moss said there was no warrant out for Clark related to his failure to report to authorities as required for sex offenders.
In March, The Herald reported that about 1,800 sexual offenders statewide had skipped out on reporting to law enforcement following their release from prison. The report came after the murder of Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa by registered sexual offender. A month later, another young girl, Sarah Lunde, was also killed in Ruskin by another sexual offender. Since then, hundreds of offenders have been located.
In April, the Legislature passed the Jessica Lunsford Act, which says that future sexual offenders who prey on children younger than 12 years old will face at least 25 years in prison and a lifetime of satellite tracking if they are released.
The stabbing incident happened at about 9:30 p.m. Monday at Mama Leonor, a walk-up cafeteria at 47 NE Second Ave.
Police said Clark, wielding a knife, tried to rob Melida Murillo, the restaurant owner who had fed him and paid him to occasionally sweep up outside her business. Police said Clark slashed her with the knife, trying to get her backpack filled with cash, credit cards and a cellphone.
Another homeless man whom Murillo had also hired recently came to her aid, but Clark stabbed him several times, police said. The good Samaritan -- whose name has not been released -- died minutes later.
Murillo told police about Clark. On Tuesday morning, homicide detectives were waiting for Clark when he showed up for a doctor's appointment at the Veterans Administration Hospital.
''He even came in early; he was a punctual man,'' said Moss, adding that Clark told detectives he was now staying at the Camillus House shelter.
Clark is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and armed robbery. He is being held without bond in the Dade County Jail.
Murillo is recuperating at a local hospital.
Police say the relatives of the good Samaritan, a 28-year-old Honduran, have not been located.
''He tried to do the right thing,'' Moss said of the victim.
Herald researcher Monika Leal contributed to this report.
