The girlfriend of Miami Police Officer Carl Patrick, who was fatally shot at his Pembroke Pines home, has been booked into the main Broward County jail on a second-degree murder charge.
Tiniko Thompson was arrested Wednesday shortly after a warrant for her arrest was issued, and she was booked into Pembroke Pines Police Department for processing.
She is expected to appear before Broward Judge John "Jay" Hurley on Thursday.
Thompson, 46, is a Miami Police public service aide and was Patrick's live-in girlfriend. Police had initially named Thompson a person of interest in the shooting after Patrick, 52, was shot and killed in his home as he prepared to leave for work.
Patrick, who had been an officer for the Miami PD for 25 years and was a member of its honor guard, was found dead in his home in the 2100 block of NW 93rd Street on May 9.
Pembroke Pines Police officers had found Patrick dead in his bedroom after Miami Police issued a welfare check on him when he had failed to report for work or contact anyone.
While initially the question of who shot Patrick was a mystery, the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Miami Police Officer Carl Patrick laid to rest amid ongoing investigation. More at: http://t.co/UZU92bHp2b pic.twitter.com/ln9eNtjBJE
— WSVN-TV (@wsvn) May 17, 2014After several weeks of investigating, authorities were able to find surveillance video of Thompson dropping off items from Patrick's personal car at a storage facility in North Miami hours after the murder had occurred.
Investigators say Thompson left baby items at the storage facility, lending credence to a theory that the couple were expecting. Both Patrick and Thompson had requested medical leave for a birth.
Meanwhile, Thompson's attorney, Rod Vareen, says his client was simply acting in self-defense.
According to Vareen, Thompson was defending herself during a struggle with Patrick when the gun went off. Vareen says Thompson did not have a finger on the trigger.
According to Local 10, Vareen has photographic evidence of injuries Thompson sustained from Patrick.
Pembroke Pines Police Capt. Al Xiques spoke to the media on Wednesday and addressed criticisms that an arrest took longer than it should have.
"I can't second-guess the officers that were on scene and had to make the decision on how to best and safely take her into custody. I'm sure that they considered all possibilities and the decision that they came to untimately was successful," Xiques told the media, per WSVN. "She's in custody. No one was hurt. No one was injured, and this is where we are at. Our investigators and collaboration with other entities have been working tirelessly to gather all of the evidence and all of the information they possibly can to bring us to this point where we could file for an arrest warrant in order to bring Mrs. Thompson into custody and ultimately have her prosecuted for the crime that she committed."
Sgt. Javier Ortiz of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement Wednesday asking why an arrest had taken so long:
"Who made the decision to allow a cop killer to call the shots on how they were going to be taken into custody? Who allowed a wanted cop killer to walk freely in the presence of the public with no clue if she was armed and an army of police officers to enter an air conditioned Mercedes-Benz with knowledge that she had an active warrant for second degree murder?"
Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa released a statement on Thursday following Thompson's arrest.
"As a member of the Miami Police family, we were able to share Carl for 25 years, but the Patrick family has loved him for a lifetime," the statement reads. "My hope now is that this arrest brings the closure that we so desperately need in the aftermath of what has been a terrible tragedy for us all."
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