When Miami gang members wanted to mount an ambush against their rivals, they didn’t have to work hard to find them. Their road map was a rap-show flier. The gunmen who fired on the crowd outside El Mula banquet hall — killing three and wounding 20 — planned the attack after seeing their rivals advertise a rap show at the Northwest Miami-Dade event space last year, according to recent court testimony.
The rivalry stemmed from two groups, one from a North Miami-Dade apartment complex known as the “Back Blues,” the other from one known as “The Bricks,” who had engaged in bloody tit for tat that culminated in shooters from three cars firing into the crowd. The new details of the run-up to the shooting were detailed in a confession, played in court, from Davonte Barnes, the accused lookout charged in the mass shooting that shocked South Florida on May 30, 2021. It was one of several high-profile shootings at the start of that summer that led Miami-Dade police and other law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on feuding gangs and other violent criminals.
Killed in the El Mula shooting were Desmond Owens and Clayton Dillard III, both 26. Another victim, Shankquia Lechelle Peterson, 32, who is believed to have been an innocent bystander, later died at the hospital of her wounds.
The hearing was held over two days last week to decide whether there’s enough evidence to keep Barnes, 23, behind bars pending trial on three counts of murder and 20 counts of attempted murder. He’s pleaded not guilty, and his defense attorney has suggested that Barnes was goaded into confessing to being a lookout.
The hearing will continue next month, as Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Robert Watson reviews over eight hours of Barnes’ confession.
ONE DEFENDANT, SO FAR
So far, Barnes is the only person charged in the shooting. Another suspect, Warneric Buckner, had been charged and accused of being one of the shooters — but prosecutors dropped the case after deciding that Miami-Dade homicide detectives violated his right to remain silent after he asked for an attorney.
Miami-Dade police and prosecutors say the investigation is still ongoing, and more arrests could happen eventually. Buckner has since been listed as a state witness.
Last week’s hearing marked the first time Miami-Dade police and prosecutors have publicly detailed the scope of the investigation into the mass shooting. In court, they identified a slew of other suspects, young men they say are affiliated with The Bricks, with street names such as “Savage,” “Gordo” and “O.G. Drop.”
Another of their associates mentioned, 19-year-old Antwon Streeter, was shot to death in Opa-locka on May 23, 2021. “Because of his death ... that was one of the reasons why the mass shooting occurred,” Miami-Dade Detective Alexandra Turnes, the lead investigator on the case, told the judge last week.
She testified that Owens, who was killed, was one of the intended targets, as was another victim, Johntrell “JRG Hatchett” Love, 21, who was shot in the head and survived. He was supposed to perform at El Mula, which was hosting a show for the release of an album by a rapper named ABMG Spitta, whose real name is Courtney Wilson; he was not injured in the shooting.
Another rapper, Antonio “FoePack” Jones, of Opa-locka, was also wounded in the foot outside the hall — and he was the primary target, the judge heard.
CONFESSION PLAYED IN COURT It was Barnes who detailed to homicide detectives that his crew had driven to El Mula to find Jones. He agreed to speak without an attorney present. In a roughly one-hour excerpt of his confession, Barnes said another man, known by the nickname Savage, had a long-running beef with Jones. “They want to get each other,” Barnes told Turnes and Detective Rich Raphael.
That day, Barnes, Savage and a group of other men met at the Cordoba Court apartments in Opa-Locka, a complex commonly called The Bricks, where they viewed the flier for the show. Barnes said he put the address into his phone GPS, and in at least four cars, they all drove to the hall, 7630 NW 186th St.
“Did you think there was going to be some type of retaliation,” Raphael asked.
“Of course,” Barnes said. Barnes drove in a silver Nissan Altima, along with his cousin nicknamed “Drak,” and neither had weapons. But Barnes admitted that in front of El Mula, he and his cousin were looking for Jones, while his cousin was on the phone communicating with O.G. Drop.
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