A man has been convicted in the murder of a woman who was found shot to death near her Miami Gardens business more than four years ago.
James Hardwick, 31, was found guilty Tuesday in the March 19, 2021 killing of 39-year-old Misty Wiltshire Hopkins, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections
James Hardwick
Hopkins, the owner of the waxing and laser hair removal business Hair Free, was found lying in a pool of blood and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the hallway of the second floor of a shopping plaza on Northwest 27th Avenue, where her business was located.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hardwick was arrested in April of 2022 on first-degree murder and other charges, after police said they identified him as one of the co-conspirators in connection with the homicide.
In a statement Tuesday, the state attorney’s office said it was an ambush killing.
“Today’s guilty verdict for James Hardwick’s part in the ambush murder of Misty Hopkins is another statement by the residents of Miami-Dade County that gun violence and gang violence will not be tolerated in this community,” the statement read. “Misty Hopkins’ innocent life was too high a price to be paid so that gang members could exact revenge against others for a perceived transgression. I congratulate the Miami Gardens Police Department for their dogged determination to track down all the perpetrators of this vicious crime.”
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