Prosecutors seek death penalty for Haitian migrant accused of hammer killing Florida store clerk

Prosecutors in Florida will seek the death penalty against Rolbert Joachin, a 40-year-old Haitian man who entered the United States illegally, for the hammer killing of a Fort Myers gas station clerk.

State Attorney Amira Fox announced Thursday that a Lee County grand jury indicted Joachin in the April 2 death of Nilufa Easmın, a 51-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh. Joachin faces charges in connection with attacking Easmın outside the gas station, where he struck her repeatedly in the head with a hammer.

Surveillance video showed the assault after Easmın confronted Joachin for smashing her car window. Authorities called the footage "extremely brutal and incredibly violent."

Joachin fled the scene. Fort Myers police launched a citywide search and arrested him.

"This crime was so violent, so extreme, so unwarranted. It is something that once seen, is never to be forgotten," Fox said. "I want to thank the Lee County Grand Jury who watched and reviewed the gruesome evidence in this case and gave their full attention. I know it was not easy. This defendant entered the United States illegally and brutally ended the life of a mother simply at her job, working to provide for her family."

"He will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We will seek the death penalty in this case," Fox added.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack and criticized the Biden administration for releasing Joachin in 2022. "An Illegal Alien Criminal from Haiti, who was released into our Country by the WORST President in History, Crooked Joe Biden, and the Radical Democrats in Congress, just beat an innocent woman to death with a hammer at a gas station in Florida," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see."

"This one killing should be enough for these Radical Judges to STOP impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies, and allow us to END THIS SCAM ONCE AND FOR ALL," he added.

Joachin first entered the U.S. in August 2022 and was released into the country under former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A federal judge issued a final order of removal against him, but Joachin received Temporary Protected Status. Trump has called the program "a massively abused and fraudulent program" and blamed "radical liberal district court judges" for blocking his administration's efforts to end it.

Joachin remained in the country after his status expired in 2024.