Man Charged in Lauderdale Lakes Triple Murder Released

Grand jury doesn't indict man in murders of 6-month-old child, 2 women

The man charged with murdering two women and a 6-month-old child in January in Lauderdale Lakes was released Friday after a grand jury decided not to indict him.

Lineten Belizaire, 21, had been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 22 on first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 6-month-old Carlton Stringer, Jr.,  his 25-year-old mother, Natasha Plummer, and 21-year-old roommate Octavia Barnett.

He walked out of Broward jail around 2 p.m. with his uncle Ernest Baldwin but didn't speak with reporters.

"He's just happy to be home and get back with his children," Baldwin said. "He's not the type of person to do something that heinous."

The Broward State Atttorney's spokesman Ron Ishoy issued a statement Friday.

"The Grand Jury issued a preliminary recommendation Thursday that further investigation be conducted and that additional evidence be presented to them so grand jurors can more fully and properly determine whether formal criminal charges should be brought against Lineten Rashin Belizaire or any other involved individual," Ishoy said.

At a brief hearing Friday morning, a judge ordered Belizaire released.

In a phone interview with NBC 6 Friday, Belizaire's attorney, Alexander Michaels, said he went to court Friday morning to file a motion for his client's release and was quite pleased when he learned Belizaire would be let out.

Michaels said Belizaire wasn't guilty and said someone else committed the crime but said an arrest could still come.

"I know my client did not commit these crimes, the grand jury agreed so far and we'll have to wait," Michaels said, adding he didn't know why police arrested Belizaire. "Why they arrested him, you need to ask them, but I think they jumped the gun."

Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti issued a statement Friday saying he was disappointed in the grand jury's decision.

"Our detectives worked tirelessly to compile the evidence and establish probable cause. It was sufficient to obtain an arrest warrant for murder in the first degree but apparently not enough to satisfy the Grand Jurors," Lamberti said. "O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony remind us that people today expect flawless, airtight cases, but with all our efforts and our resources we can’t always build one. Two women and a baby were murdered in cold blood and the Broward Sheriff’s Office will not close this case until the killer is brought to justice."

According to police, the bodies were found in an apartment at 2750 Somerset Drive on Jan. 14. An 11-moth-old who is the child of Belizaire and Barnett was at the scene but was left unharmed, police said.

Police said Barnett's last Facebook post was about Belizaire standing outside her door shortly before the bodies were discovered.

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