Lonie Jeffries was 53 when he was killed on August 20, 1982, in a mass shooting at a Miami welding shop. The shooter, Carl Robert Brown, a former teacher with reported psychiatric problems who had been relieved of his duties earlier that year, entered the shop and opened fire with a shotgun. Eight people, including Jeffries, were killed and three others wounded in the attack.

Witnesses later described Brown as quiet, isolated, and increasingly erratic in the months before the shooting. After the attack Brown attempted to flee on a bicycle and was pursued and fatally shot by two witnesses who had seen the assault. There were no arrests since Brown died at the scene.

Memorials and tributes were held for Jeffries and the other victims, and the event prompted public discussion about mental health and warning signs.