Miami-Dade Police conducted an overnight raid Thursday, taking three men into custody while a fourth was charged for their role in the deadly mass shooting outside the El Mula banquet hall in May of 2021.
Miami-Dade Police conducted an overnight raid Thursday, taking three men into custody while a fourth was charged for their role in the deadly mass shooting outside the El Mula banquet hall in May of 2021.
"So today we're announcing the arrests of four individuals for these murders and shootings," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
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The suspects were identified as Allen Gregory Chambers, Jr., Willie Zavon Hill, Eugene Anthony Holmes and Jacarree Brian Green. Hill is already in federal custody serving time for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Prosecutors charged all four men with three counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Hill is facing an additional charge for allegedly attempting to dispose of the white Nissan Pathfinder used in the crime.
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Fernandez Rundle said the men went to El Mula that night to target members of a rival gang as the banquet hall hosted an album release party on May 30, 2021.
Video shows masked gunmen run from a stolen white Nissan Pathfinder, opening fire and killing 32-year-old Shanique Peterson, 26-year-old Desmond Owens and 26-year-old Clayton Dillard III.
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"This attack was a planned assault. The targets included those who alleged attackers identified as rival gang members," Fernandez Rundle said.
According to an arrest warrant, cell phone and GPS records established Holmes as the driver of the Pathfinder, and Green as the driver of a black Cadillac, and revealed Hill and Chambers as gunmen who exited that car.
"In total, the police recovered 99 spent shell casings," Fernandez Rundle said, "Forensic analysis revealed that the casings were shot from nine different firearms."
Investigators also said video from Holmes' cell phone taken just hours after the shooting shows him and another subject bragging about the crime.
The violence prompted the county to launch what they called "Operation Summer Heat," a partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said it was so effective, it became permanent.
“It led to a longer-term effort called 'Operation Community Shield,'" Levine Cava said. "Working together, we took over 3,000 illegal guns off the street."
These are not the first arrests in this case. In November, Davonte Barnes was sentenced to life in prison for his role as a lookout in the shooting.
In 2021, police also arrested Warneric Buckner for his suspected role in the shooting—Buckner was identified as one of the men in the Pathfinder, but prosecutors had to drop charges after they said detectives improperly got a confession after he asked for attorney.
Buckner was also charged in connection with the murder of 6 year-old Chassidy Saunders in 2021. He pleaded not guilty in that case, which is ongoing.
“We, as a law enforcement community, vow that this investigation will continue until everyone who can be charged is charged," said Fernandez Rundle.
Prosecutors said this investigation remains open and ongoing.
