Florida murder of King Solomon graduate was ‘mistaken identity’, rabbi says

A King Solomon Academy graduate who was murdered in Florida may have been the victim of mistaken identity, her rabbi believes.

Sara Michelle Trost was shot dead last week by a tenant who had been evicted from his rental home in the southern city of Coral Springs.

“Apparently the owner of the house, who was evicting the tenant, also had a white Jeep and was a blonde-haired lady, like Sara, and the guy mistook her,” Rabbi Shuey Biston said.

“It’s devastating.”

Trost was a mother of two from Essex who moved to the US after meeting her American husband eight years ago.

They had a three-year-old daughter together.

She was sitting in her car outside another empty property when she was attacked, local press reports said.

Raymond Reese, a 51-year-old man from the nearby town of Boca Raton has been charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors can opt to seek the death penalty during his trial.

Rabbi Biston told The Times her daughter was Trost’s “entire world”.

“Sara was the sweetest of sweet. Always laughing, always joking, always a smile. She was legit the life of the party and the kindest, kindest soul,” he told the newspaper.

“She would keep bottles of water on the front seat of her car to give to homeless people begging at traffic lines, expressing concern about them standing in the baking sun with nowhere to go.

“Whenever she went shopping for groceries, any time anyone in front of her looked like they could use a pick-me-up, like they could use some kindness, she would pay for their bill . . . this would be a few times a week.”

Rabbi Biston’s wife Sarah added that Trost made regular trips to Israel and was a regular volunteer: “I kept replaying in my head all the conversations with Sara about making challah.

“Sara would reach out to me all the time asking if she was making it correctly and for challah advice.

“She wasn’t afraid to explore all different types of recipes and even substitute.

“This was Sara, not afraid of anything. She didn’t stick to the recipe.

“She was larger than life and we will miss her dearly.”