A 21-year-old Miami man has been arrested after investigators say he helped carry out an elaborate kidnapping involving fake police officers that ended with 22-year-old Eddrick Malik Bethune being shot to death in southwest Miami-Dade County.
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The Eddrick Bethune kidnapping has also sparked disturbing allegations online that the arrested suspect, Devorise Carl Johnson, may have been someone Bethune personally knew. While several social media accounts have described the two as friends, authorities have not publicly confirmed that relationship.According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Johnson was arrested on October 14, following his discharge from a hospital where he had been recovering from gunshot wounds sustained during the October 4 incident. He now faces multiple felony charges, including first-degree murder.
Investigators allege Johnson was part of a five-man operation that began on October 3 at the Aliro apartment complex, located at 14040 Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami.
According to the arrest report detailed by Local 10 News, Johnson and four unidentified men arrived at approximately 9:41 p.m. and waited for Bethune to leave his building.
Shortly after midnight on October 4, Bethune walked into the parking lot. Investigators say the men approached him in a gray 2026 Toyota Camry equipped with flashing red and blue lights designed to resemble a police vehicle.
Two armed men exited the Camry wearing baseball caps, black pants, and long-sleeved shirts with the word “POLICE” printed across the back.
According to the affidavit, they ordered Bethune onto the ground, handcuffed him, and took his apartment keys and cellphone.
A third accomplice reportedly stepped out of the vehicle, threw Bethune’s cellphone across the parking lot and collected his apartment keys. He then signaled Johnson and another suspect to leave the Camry.
What happened next turned the Eddrick Bethune kidnapping into a violent apartment invasion.
According to Univision’s reporting on the arrest affidavit, Johnson and two accomplices used Bethune’s stolen keys to enter his apartment while the other two suspects remained outside.
Surveillance footage reportedly captured two intruders heading toward the bedrooms while a third pointed a firearm toward a sofa in the living room. Another person, identified in police documents as a second victim, was sitting there.
When the armed intruder walked away, that individual grabbed an AK-47-style rifle.
Moments later, Johnson reportedly encountered the second victim in the living room and raised his firearm. Investigators say the second victim opened fire, striking Johnson multiple times. Johnson also fired his weapon, and the other intruders joined the shooting.
With their escape route apparently blocked, all three suspects jumped from a third-floor bedroom window.
Police say Johnson left blood on the apartment floors, walls, curtains, blinds, and broken window glass. Videos obtained by Local 10 captured two men jumping from the building and the sound of approximately a dozen gunshots.
Meanwhile, Bethune was fighting to get away.
According to investigators, the two men waiting outside forced Bethune into the Camry’s back seat as he attempted to escape. Witness video showed two men beating someone believed to be Bethune before forcing that person into the vehicle.
The Camry reportedly drove away with one door still open.
Surveillance footage then captured Johnson and his two accomplices returning to the waiting vehicle, where Bethune was being held.
Rather than ending at the apartment complex, the Eddrick Bethune kidnapping continued across Miami-Dade County.
Investigators say Johnson was dropped off at Jackson North Medical Center because of his gunshot injuries. The other four suspects continued traveling with Bethune toward the Redland area.
According to the arrest affidavit, they eventually reached the area of Southwest 216th Street and Southwest 189th Avenue, where Bethune was shot multiple times and killed.
At approximately 7:25 a.m., a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office captain discovered Bethune’s body along the roadside near agricultural nurseries. An October 5 autopsy determined he died from gunshot wounds, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Investigators also located a burned vehicle near Southwest 248th Street and Southwest 157th Avenue. Authorities believe the suspects intentionally set the Camry on fire to destroy evidence.
But another question surrounding the Eddrick Bethune kidnapping has emerged online: Did Johnson and Bethune know each other?
Facebook accounts, including Marco Watts and Florida Promo, have circulated claims that Johnson was Bethune’s friend. Some posts allege that photographs showing them together had appeared on Instagram.
However, those claims remain unverified. The alleged photographs have not been independently authenticated, and neither the publicly released police information nor the reported arrest affidavit establishes a friendship between the two men.
Authorities also have not announced a motive, making it premature to characterize Bethune’s killing as a betrayal by a friend.
Following his hospital discharge, Johnson was transported to the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. According to the arrest report, investigators advised him of his Miranda rights, and he invoked his right to have an attorney present.
Johnson faces charges including first-degree murder connected to kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, armed robbery, armed burglary, shooting a deadly missile, and falsely impersonating a police officer resulting in death.
He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. According to CBS News Miami, Johnson was denied bond on multiple charges and was expected to appear before a judge Friday.
The four other alleged participants had not been publicly identified in the arrest report, and their arrest status remained unclear. Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
For now, the Eddrick Bethune kidnapping investigation leaves critical questions unanswered, including why the group targeted him, whether anyone involved personally knew him, and who fired the fatal shots.
What investigators have documented is a coordinated abduction involving police impersonation, a violent apartment shootout, a forced drive across Miami-Dade, and the killing of a 22-year-old man whose body was abandoned along a rural roadside.
