Arrest made in 1986 cold case killing of North Miami Beach real estate broker, police say – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – Nearly 39 years after the fatal shooting of a real estate broker in her North Miami Beach office, police have arrested a suspect in the decades-old cold case.
Jeffrey Taylor was taken into custody on Thursday. The 64-year-old was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm in the 1986 killing of Shirley Brant, the owner of Brant Realty Corporation, North Miami Beach Police announced Friday.
Investigators said Brant was shot in her office, located at 16375 NE 18th Ave., during an armed robbery on June 13, 1986.
A co-worker who witnessed the incident told investigators that two unidentified men entered the office, and one of them, now identified as Taylor, demanded Brant hang up the phone, police said.
A struggle followed, and Brant was shot once. The 49-year-old later died at the now-closed Parkway Regional Hospital.
Despite extensive investigation by North Miami Beach Police and Miami-Dade Police at the time, the case went cold.
In 2023, a newly formed Cold Case Unit at the North Miami Beach Police Department reopened the investigation.
Detectives discovered latent fingerprints collected at the scene and resubmitted them for analysis.
On March 21, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab confirmed the prints matched Taylor.
North Miami Beach Police Chief Juan Pinillos discussed the investigation at a news conference held Friday.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our cold case unit, both of whom came out of retirement for the purpose of pursuing justice, Miss Brandt’s case has finally been solved,” he said.
Police said advancements in fingerprint technology helped lead to the arrest.
Taylor was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade.
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