Broward fugitive accused of killing man at ex-girlfriend’s home caught in the Caribbean

A man accused of shooting and killing another man at his ex-girlfriend’s house in Broward, then kidnapping her and her then 2-year-old son at gunpoint was recently captured in the Caribbean, the FBI announced Thursday.

Kareem Jobbar Lightbourne, 47, entered 24-year-old Monifa Smith’s residence in the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Street in Lauderhill in December 2002, according to the Miami Herald archives. Police say he gunned down 23-year-old Kirk Ennis before kidnapping Smith.

Lightbourne drove around with Smith for two hours — until she escaped on State Road 7 and called police for help, according to the archives. He had lived with Smith until November 2002. Court records show Smith filed domestic violence cases against Lightbourne in December 2002 and March 2003.

At some point after the murder, Lightbourne fled Florida, according to the FBI. For more than two decades, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has had a warrant out for Lighbourne’s arrest.

Authorities recently detained Lightbourne in the Dominican Republic, though he was expelled to the U.S. due to immigration violations, the federal agency said.

Lightbourne, who was arrested Wednesday by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, is being held in the Broward Main Jail, records show. He’s charged with first-degree murder and armed kidnapping.

The search for Lightbourne had an odd twist in 2005 when police arrested a man they believed to be the fugitive at the funeral of the man’s grandmother, according to the Herald archives. Authorities handcuffed and questioned the man but “quickly learned it was not Kareem Lightbourne and released him.”

This report will be updated.