It was Christmas Day in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, but the scene outside the popular Red Rooster restaurant was anything but festive. Instead of holiday cheer, there was a single gunshot, a cry of pain, and a mother fleeing into the afternoon. The victim, bleeding from his thigh on the pavement, pointed investigators to the person he said was responsible: his own mother.
Fifty-year-old Roseita Lavette Smith is now in custody, charged with shooting her adult son following a family argument that turned violently tragic. According to Miami Police, the trouble started inside the Red Rooster. Smith, there with her son, became increasingly upset, accusing him of being “disrespectful” to her and other family members. What began as a heated holiday disagreement didn’t end at the table.
The argument moved from the restaurant to the parking lot and then into Smith’s vehicle. Tensions continued to boil until her son got out of the car. Police say Smith followed him out. That’s when, authorities allege, she fired one round from a gun, striking her son in the left thigh. The sound of the gunfire shattered the relative calm of Christmas afternoon, sending patrons and staff scrambling.
First responders arrived to find the wounded man on the ground. He was quickly treated and rushed to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition—a fortunate outcome given the circumstances. While her son was being cared for, Smith was gone. She had reportedly left the scene immediately after the shooting, prompting an urgent search.
Miami police officers, however, tracked her down later on Christmas Day. When they found her, Smith offered a starkly different version of events than the one painted by the initial scene. She told investigators she acted in self-defense. Smith claimed her son had threatened to assault her after refusing to get out of her car, and she said she feared for her safety, alluding to past behavioral issues.
That claim of self-defense did not prevent her arrest. The victim, whose exact age has not been released, explicitly identified his mother as the shooter. Based on the evidence and his statement, detectives moved forward with an arrest. Roseita Smith was booked into jail, facing a serious felony charge: aggravated battery with a weapon causing bodily harm.
The incident has left the community grappling with a senseless holiday tragedy. The Red Rooster, a staple known for bringing people together over food, became the unlikely backdrop for a family fracture played out in the most violent way. As Smith awaits her next court date, the question hanging over the case is how a day meant for peace and family spiraled so completely out of control.
