A 20-year-old woman has been charged with murder after she was caught on camera beating a 55-year-old woman in Miami Beach over a stolen necklace.
Zaria Liana Williams was arrested after CCTV footage showed her running after Anna Mathis in the middle of the street and brutally beating her.
According to police, Williams, Mathis and a third woman were at the intersection of 5th Street and Ocean Drive when Mathis allegedly “snatched” the third woman’s necklace.
As the “erratically” behaving jewel thief ran away with the necklace, Williams quickly jumped up and began chasing Mathis, the arrest report said.
Zaria Liana Williams, 20, (pictured) was arrested after cell phone video showed her running after Anna Mathis, 55, in the middle of the street and brutally beating her
Witnesses later told detectives that when both women stopped, the suspect jumped into a “fighting stance” just before beginning to strike them.
Video footage from different angles shows the suspect sitting on the victim and hitting her repeatedly.
Just before officers arrived on the scene, a Good Samaritan intervened and pushed Williams away, the arrest report states.
“This girl was on top of her and was beating her up,” a witness said. NBC6“I work at TGI Friday’s and when I came outside she was all over me and I was beating the crap out of her.”
Video footage from multiple angles shows the suspect sitting on top of the victim and repeatedly hitting her
Officials later clarified that Mathis never took the necklace himself, but that the third woman “later found it in the sports shirt she was wearing.”
According to WSVN-TV, Williams and Mathis were both homeless and already known to police.
Mathis, who suffered a neck injury and a massive brain hemorrhage, was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center and intubated.
But doctors soon declared the victim brain dead and said there was no chance of recovery.
Just before officers arrived on the scene, a good Samaritan stepped inside and pushed Williams away, the arrest report said.
When a patient is declared brain dead, he or she is legally considered deceased.
Williams was initially charged with aggravated assault, but this was later upgraded to second-degree murder when it was determined that Mathis was brain dead.
The suspect is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Her bail for the second-degree murder charge was listed in jail records as “to be determined.” It was initially set at $1 million when she was charged with aggravated assault.