Antonio Brown appears in Miami court, livestreams shooting case hearing

Antonio Brown livestreamed part of his Miami court appearance Friday as he came before a judge for a house-arrest change tied to his attempted second-degree murder case. It was his first in-person court appearance since the charge was filed, and the hearing centered on the practical mechanics of his monitoring, not a trial.

Brown arrived at the courthouse to pick up his ankle monitor after returning to Miami from Tampa, where he had been monitored through a private company. His attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said the judge had granted Brown a furlough while Brown’s girlfriend was expecting a baby, and that Brown came back after the birth. Once Brown was back in Miami, supervision shifted to Miami-Dade’s house arrest unit so county officers could monitor him directly.

That change put Brown inside the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s Monitored Release Program, the county system used for both pretrial and sentenced offenders. Brown had already been released on $25,000 bond with GPS monitoring and house arrest conditions, so Friday’s hearing was about adjusting how that supervision worked, not loosening it.

The criminal case stems from the May 16, 2025 shooting outside a celebrity boxing event in Little Haiti. Prosecutors allege Brown grabbed a handgun from a security staffer and fired two shots at Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu. Nantambu told investigators that one bullet grazed his neck. Brown has pleaded not guilty and says he acted in self-defense.

Brown’s lawyers are pressing a Stand Your Ground defense, and a judge has scheduled a future hearing on that immunity claim. Under Florida law, that kind of hearing can end a case before trial if the judge finds the force was justified. Brown’s defense wants the case dismissed on that basis, while the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office maintains the shooting allegation is serious enough to carry major prison exposure if the case goes forward.

A guideline range of about 48 months to 30 years in state prison, with a 20-year minimum mandatory when a firearm enhancement applies, has been cited in the case. Attempted second-degree murder is generally a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years and a $10,000 fine, but a gun enhancement can raise the exposure substantially.