MIAMI — Four alleged gang members have been arrested in a shooting that killed three people and wounded at least 20 others outside a Florida banquet hall over Memorial Day weekend in 2021.

The shooting outside the El Mula Banquet Hall, which killed Desmond Owens and Clayton Dillard III, both 26, and Shaniqua Lechelle Peterson, 32, was the largest mass shooting in Miami-Dade County history. It took place as people arrived at the hall for a rap concert, authorities said.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the arrests Thursday at a news conference.

“It was a planned assault targeting performers and attendees,” Fernandez Rundle said. “It was a completely senseless act of violence and retaliation.”

Allen Gregory Chambers Jr., 30; Jacarree Brian Green, 30; Willie Zavon Hill, 27; and Eugene Anthony Holmes, 22; are each charged with three counts of first-degree murder and a sole count of conspiracy to commit murder, Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference.

The alleged gunmen are each also accused of 20 counts of attempted murder. Hill is charged with evidence tampering for disposing of a Nissan Pathfinder authorities say was one of four vehicles used in the May 30, 2021, shooting.

The Pathfinder, which had been stolen, was dumped in a canal.

The confessed lookout during the crime, Davonte Barnes, 25, was convicted last fall of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. CBS News reported that he was sentenced to life in prison.

According to the Miami Herald, Chambers, Green, Hill and Holmes are being held without bond. It is not yet clear if prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are possible, Fernandez Rundle said.

“This investigation will continue until everyone who can be charged is charged,” she said.

Arrest warrants obtained by the Herald indicate that the defendants are members of the Bricks street gang and that their primary target was a rap artist named “Foepack” who was performing at the El Mula the night of the shooting.

The rapper is also a member of the Back Blues, an Opa-locka-based rival gang, the court documents allege.

Prosecutors argued at a pretrial hearing for Barnes that the men plotted the shooting after learning of the rapper’s upcoming performance, the Herald reported. The gunfire was prompted, in part, by the shooting death of Antwon Streeter, a Bricks associate, the week before the mass shooting.

Authorities said at least 99 bullets were fired into the crowd, from nine different guns. According to the Herald, crime scene technicians ran out of evidence markers for the shell casings and had to begin creating their own.

Though “FoePack,” whose real name is Antonio Jones, was the group’s primary target, his injuries — caused by a bullet to the foot — were minor, according to the newspaper. Another target, Johntrell “JRG Hatchett” Love, was shot in the head but survived.

Owens, who was killed, was a third intended target, authorities said.

Authorities have said that the slain Peterson was believed to be an innocent bystander.

© 2024 Cox Media Group