Haitian Immigrant Accused of Fatal Attack on Florida Clerk Faces Death Penalty Charges

A man who unlawfully entered the United States from Haiti has been sentenced to face the death penalty after being convicted of murdering a store clerk in Fort Myers, prosecutors revealed.

On Thursday, State Attorney Amira Fox announced that a Lee County grand jury had indicted 40-year-old Rolbert Joachin. The indictment is linked to the tragic incident on April 2, where Nilufa Easmın, a 51-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, was killed at a gas station in Fort Myers, Florida.

Prosecutors stated that Joachin is alleged to have attacked Easmın outside the gas station, delivering fatal blows to her head with a hammer.

The horrific act was captured on surveillance cameras, which showed Easmın confronting Joachin after he smashed her car window, only to be repeatedly struck with the hammer. Authorities have described the footage as “extremely brutal and incredibly violent.”

Indicted on a charge of first-degree murder, Joachin is now facing the death penalty, as prosecutors emphasize the severity of the crime.

Investigators say Joachin fled the scene following the attack, prompting a citywide search before Fort Myers police located and arrested him.

“This crime was so violent, so extreme, so unwarranted. It is something that once seen, is never to be forgotten. 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. 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,” State Attorney Fox said.

“He will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We will seek the death penalty in this case,” Fox said.

Split of Rolbert Joachim surveillance photo and mugshot. (Fort Myers Police Department)

President Donald Trump condemned the violent video, and blasted the Biden administration for releasing the suspect in 2022.

“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see.

“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 added. 

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Joachim first entered the U.S. in August 2022, and was released into the country under former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

A federal judge later issued a final order of removal against Joachim, but he was granted Temporary Protected Status, which Trump has described as “a massively abused and fraudulent program.” He has also blamed what he called “radical liberal district court judges” for blocking efforts by his administration to end it.

While a federal judge issued a final order of removal against him, Joachim was reportedly granted Temporary Protected Status, a program Trump called “massively abused and fraudulent” and difficult to eliminate due to Democratic support.

The suspect then remained in the country after his status expired in 2024.

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