Markenzy Lapointe

Lapointe was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1968, where his mother worked as a street vendor and his father was a tailor. Lapointe moved to Miami with his mother and siblings at the age of 16. They lived in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. He graduated from Miami Edison Senior High School in 1987 and then attended Miami Dade College. He drove a cab and worked alongside his mother at a restaurant in Key Biscayne. He served for six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and served a six-month tour in Iraq when the Gulf War erupted. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the Florida State University in 1993.^[1] He worked for a few years in banking before deciding to pursue a legal career.^{[citation needed]} He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 1999.^[1] He became a U.S. citizen in 1995.^[2]