Eight members of a "violent, criminal gang" were arrested in connection with multiple murders and shootings after a months-long investigation into unsolved cases across Broward County, authorities said.
The Broward Sheriff's Office announced the arrests Wednesday. The suspects, who were arrested in June, August and as recently as Nov. 7, were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Fort Lauderdale.
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They are:
- Sigmund Brown, 27
- Kevaris Johnson, 23
- Gerard Charles, 30
- Vondarious Davis, 29
- Tyriq Jackson, 24
- Jared McCabe, 25
- Trayvon Key, 27
- Rajah Rolle, 16
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The suspects were indicted on 33 counts including murder, attempted murder and racketeering.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, it was the murder of 17-year-old Terrance Farrington Jr. on Jan. 20 outside a Best Buy in Plantation that began the "interagency operation."
The fingerprint of one of the suspects, Sigmund Brown, was allegedly recovered from a car connected to the teenager's murder.
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"Investigators with BSOâs Gang Investigations Task Force and the SAO were very familiar with Brown, a leader of the notorious Dania Hot Boyz (aka Grand Mafia), and they met in February 2024 to review several open homicides," BSO said in a news release.
That subsequent investigation led to arrests in a series of homicide cases dating back as far as 2021.
The victims include:
- Wisdom Williams, who was shot and killed in Sept. 2021 and whose body found in Hallandale Beach
- Antjuan Dobard, who was shot and killed in Pembroke Park in April 2023
- Vernaldo Donner and Terri McKenzie, who were shot and killed while driving near Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale in May 2023, and were not the intended victims of the gunfire
- Wayne Smith, who was shot in July 2023 in Hallandale Beach and died from his injuries a few days later
- Dorothy Smart, who was shot and killed in the driveway of her home in Fort Lauderdale in Sept. 2023
- Terrance Farrington Jr., who shot and killed at Best Buy in Plantation on Jan. 20. He was 17.
- Johnnie Henderson, who was shot and killed while on a date with his girlfriend in Miramar on Jan. 28. He was 17.
The investigation was organized by the Broward Sheriffâs Office Gang Investigations Task Force, Broward State Attorneyâs Office and multiple law enforcement partners.
