4 men charged in connection with 2021 mass shooting at El Mula banquet hall in Miami-Dade – NBC 6 South Florida

Miami-Dade police conducted an overnight raid Thursday, arresting three men while a fourth was charged for his role in the deadly shooting outside the El Mula Banquet Hall in May 2021.

“So today we are announcing the arrest of four people for these murders and shootings,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

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 the 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 faces an additional charge for allegedly trying to dispose of the white Nissan Pathfinder used in the crime.

A year after the El Mula shooting, police are still investigating. NBC 6's Tony Pipitone reports.

Fernandez Rundle said the men went to El Mula that night to target rival gang members as the banquet hall was hosting an album release party on May 30, 2021.

The video shows masked gunmen fleeing a stolen white Nissan Pathfinder, opening fire and killing Shanique Peterson, 32, Desmond Owens, 26, and Clayton Dillard III, 26.

“This attack was a planned attack. Among the targets were those the suspected attackers had identified as members of rival gangs,” 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 armed men who got out of that car.

“In total, police recovered 99 spent shell casings,” Fernandez Rundle said. “Forensic analysis revealed that the shell casings came from nine different firearms.”

NBC 6's Julie Leonardi has the latest on what some South Florida leaders say needs to be done to address the growing problem of gun violence.

Investigators also said a cellphone video of Holmes taken just hours after the shooting showed him and another subject bragging about the crime.

The violence prompted the county to launch what it called “Operation Summer Heat,” a partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the system was so effective that it became permanent.

“That led to a longer-term effort called 'Operation Community Shield,'” Levine Cava said. “Working together, we have taken more than 3,000 illegal guns off the streets.”

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 during the shooting.

In 2021, police also arrested Warneric Buckner for his alleged role in the shooting. Buckner was identified as one of the Pathfinder men, but prosecutors had to drop the charges after saying detectives improperly obtained a confession after requesting an attorney.

Buckner was also charged with the murder of 6-year-old Chassidy Saunders in 2021. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, which is ongoing.

“As a law enforcement community, we promise that this investigation will continue until everyone who can be charged is charged,” Fernandez Rundle said.

Prosecutors said that investigation remains open and ongoing.