Prosecutors in Florida are seeking the death penalty against a 40-year-old Haitian man accused of bludgeoning a petrol station clerk to death with a hammer during what officials have described as an “incredibly violent” attack caught on closed-circuit television.
Indictment and pursuit of capital punishment
Rolbert Joachin was indicted by a Lee County grand jury over the killing of Nilufa Easmin, a 51-year-old mother who was working at a gas station in Fort Myers when she was attacked on 2 April. The announcement was made on Thursday by State Attorney Amira Fox, who confirmed that her office intends to pursue the harshest possible punishment.
“This crime was so violent, so extreme, so unwarranted… It is something that – once seen – is never to be forgotten,” Fox said. She added: “He will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We will seek the death penalty in this case.”
Members of the grand jury were shown the surveillance footage and other “gruesome evidence” before returning the indictment, a process Fox acknowledged had been difficult for those involved. “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,” she said.
The attack
According to investigators, the confrontation began when Joachin allegedly smashed the windscreen of Easmin’s car outside the station. Easmin confronted him, and the situation rapidly escalated into a physical assault. Prosecutors allege Joachin then struck her repeatedly in the face and head with a hammer, using a level of violence that shocked even seasoned law enforcement officials.
Authorities who reviewed the CCTV footage described it as “extremely brutal and incredibly violent”. The recording – which is expected to be central evidence at any trial – shows the sustained nature of the attack, with Joachin delivering multiple blows as Easmin, who had been working to support her family, was defenceless.
Following the assault, Joachin fled the scene on foot, prompting a citywide manhunt across Fort Myers. Police eventually tracked him down and arrested him. The case has generated widespread distress within the local community, with Easmin described by prosecutors as a mother simply doing her job when her life was cut short.
Fox said of the victim: “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.”
Immigration status and political reaction
Joachin’s immigration history has drawn the case into the broader national argument over border enforcement in the United States. According to the Department of Homeland Security, he first entered the country in August 2022. A federal judge later issued a final order of removal, but Joachin was subsequently granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – a programme that allows people from countries facing instability or disaster to remain in the US temporarily.
That status expired in 2024, and Joachin is alleged to have remained in the country after its expiry. President Donald Trump weighed in on the case via his Truth Social platform, criticising the administration of former President Joe Biden and linking the attack to what he described as lax immigration policies.
Trump wrote: “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. The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see.”
The president used the case to call for stronger enforcement of immigration laws and took aim at judges he accused of blocking his administration’s policies. “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 posted.
Trump has previously criticised the TPS programme, describing it as “massively abused and fraudulent”. Fort Myers police have not released further details about when the case could go to trial.
