The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said Friday its "Cold Case Unit" investigators tracked down the killer in a 2015 murder case after getting information about his searches on the internet.
Timothy Thomas III accepted a plea agreement on Wednesday, bringing closure to a case that had languished for years, MDSO officials said Friday.
The investigation dates back to the night of October 19, 2015. At approximately 9:38 p.m., Florida City Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence at 1635 NW 1 Avenue following reports of an unresponsive man.
Officers arrived to find Renaldo Clayton deceased, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene.
Initial efforts by the MDSO's Homicide Bureau, aided by the Street Violence Task Force, Narcotics Bureau, and K-9 units, were extensive. But the trail eventually went cold.
The big break came in early 2024 — nearly nine years after the crime.
The MDSO Cold Case Unit received a notification from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after their detectives uncovered suspicious internet searches related to the 2015 homicide on a phone used by Timothy Thomas III.
Further investigation by MDSO detectives revealed a crucial link: Just four days after Clayton’s murder, Thomas shot and injured a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy during a traffic stop in the Florida Keys. The deputy survived, and Thomas was apprehended after an intensive multi-agency manhunt at the time.
The MDSO Forensic Services Division immediately conducted a comparison between the two incidents. The analysis confirmed that shell casings collected from both the Florida City murder scene and the deputy shooting were fired from the same firearm.
This nugget of evidence, combined with multiple witness statements confirming Thomas’s involvement in the planned robbery and murder of Clayton, sealed the case, MDSO officials said.
Earlier this year, Thomas was extradited to Miami-Dade County and charged with second-degree Murder. He appeared in court on Wednesday, where he accepted a plea deal. Thomas was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office remains committed to seeking justice for all victims, no matter how much time has passed," said MDSO in a statement.
