Lawyer and family of man accused of trying to kill local candidate say he is wrongly accused – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) – The family of a man behind bars is speaking out as they believe he is being wrongfully accused.

Anthony Mitchell was arrested after police said he attempted to kill a candidate for commissioner.

Opa-locka police responded to the candidate's home last week after he told officers that his rivals were targeting him.

Body camera footage shows candidate Christopher Davis telling police officers that he had just been shot after getting into a fight.

“How many shots more or less?” said the responding officer.

“My neighbor said he heard three shots,” Davis said.

“He shot you?” the officer asked.

“He shot me and the bullet hole in my car is evidence,” Davis said.

Davis showed the bullet hole in his car and told police that Mitchell was behind the shooting.

“And I’m driving, you see that?” Davis said.

“Absolutely,” said the officer.

“I know these guys,” Davis said.

Mitchell was immediately arrested and charged with attempted murder.

“Anthony needs to go to jail for shooting at an occupied vehicle,” the officer said.

But on Monday, Mitchell's lawyer Michael Pizzi and his family told 7News that their relative was innocent.

“Anthony Mitchell is innocent. He was falsely accused,” Pizzi said.

Tommy Johnson, Mitchell's brother, sat next to Pizzi during the 7News interview.

“He swung!” Johnson said.

Johnson said he was the one who initially struggled with Davis before the alleged shots were fired.

However, Davis told police that he had been collecting campaign signs in the neighborhood that evening when he encountered Johnson and Mitchell. The encounter led to violent fights in the neighborhood.

“They knocked my teeth out,” Davis told officers on body camera footage. “As I was running away, the guy shot me.”

Johnson fell to the ground, whereupon Mitchell allegedly came to his brother's aid by firing shots, according to Davis and the officers.

But Pizzi said that was not the case.

“Any suggestion that Anthony Mitchell even touched or looked at a firearm that night is a complete fabrication and a lie,” Pizzi said.

However, when asked where the bullet holes in the car came from, Pizzi said he had “absolutely no idea.”

Pizzi provided cell phone video of his client Mitchell explaining his side of the story to police. The video shows Mitchell denying ever firing or possessing a gun.

He also showed 7News pictures of Davis' car parked outside City Hall days after the alleged shooting. He said the car should have been officially towed, impounded and used as evidence.

Now Pizzi has filed a motion to dismiss the case. He points to an initial police report in which Mitchell is not named as the shooter in the arrest warrant.

Davis did not immediately respond to 7News' request for comment.

The city of Opa-locka said it would not comment on the ongoing investigation.

Mitchell remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.