Man held in killing won’t face death penalty

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in the case of a Pompano Beach man charged in a 2015 slaying at a Boynton Beach liquor store.

The announcement Monday by Assistant State Attorney Terri Skiles came with Eric Colbert, 27, not in the courtroom for his arraignment on first-degree murder and robbery charges.

Assistant Public Defender Joseph Walsh told Circuit Judge Charles Burton that Colbert, in writing, had pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial in the death of Ali Arezoumandifar, 79. The man died in his final hours before a planned retirement.

“Justice will be served,” Soheila Marchal, Arezoumandifar’s oldest daughter, said when reached by phone after the court hearing. “That’s the only way my family will have closure.”

Marchal said she isn’t upset the death penalty is off the table. She said she just wants to see Colbert and his still-unnamed accomplices prosecuted.

“They need to be punished for what they have done,” Marchal said, lamenting the pain of her father’s absence from holiday and birthday gatherings of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

According to Boynton Beach police, Arezoumandifar was shot in the abdomen just after 7 p.m. Nov. 22, 2015, while standing behind the counter of the business he had recently sold. An investigation found that $400 was taken during the robbery.

Relatives have said the Jupiter man was set to retire from Liquor Market, 1660 S. Congress Ave., just a day after his shooting. An Iranian immigrant, Arezoumandifar was working his last shift after helping the new owners learn the ropes and he was due home soon for a retirement party.

Colbert admitted to being present at the robbery but has denied being the shooter, according to a police report.

Investigators interviewed Colbert while he was held at Broward jail for an alleged probation violation from another case. Tips helped police identify Colbert as a suspect, police said.

Colbert said he and two unnamed accomplices had driven around Broward “brainstorming” for a good location to rob, according to the arrest report.

Colbert, who at the time of the murder lived less than 100 feet from the store, told police he knew that only one person usually worked there at a time, and that the surrounding area was quiet, the report stated.

Colbert told investigators that during the robbery he fired his gun and intentionally missed Arezoumandifar in order to get him to hurry and that a second gunman fired and hit the victim, police said.

No other arrests have been made. Marchal praised the work of Boynton Beach police detectives in putting their case together against Colbert.

Judge Burton asked the lawyers to return on July 24 for a report on their efforts to prepare for Colbert’s trial.