Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with a weekend shooting at a South Florida graduation party that left three people dead and at least five others wounded.
Yahtayvius McCutcheon, 17, Quantayvius McCutcheon, 19, and Keyshad Richardson, 19, were each charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon in a separate shooting on Florida’s Turnpike, which came after the deadly drive-by at a hookah bar in the suburb of Kendall, according to the Miami Herald.
None of the suspects are believed to have opened fire in the earlier shooting at the graduation party, the Herald reported. However, police said they spotted the group in a red Chevrolet Malibu that had been casing the party “for a significant amount of time” but left the scene before shots rang out about 2 a.m. Sunday.
On the turnpike, the suspects in the Malibu ran down a gray Nissan Altima, whose occupants had just left the graduation party, Miami-Dade police said.
That’s when two passengers in the Malibu allegedly opened fire on the Altima, wounding the driver in the leg, the Herald reported.
The pair of shootings were the latest in a deadly surge of violence in the Miami area over the past two weeks.
As the hookah bar party was ending, another vehicle “pulled up and began to fire into the crowd,” said Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez.
Two of those killed were found inside a bullet-riddled Toyota Camry that opened fire and sped away, only to crash into a nearby wall. Police have not yet revealed their identities nor exactly how they died. At least one gun was found inside the Camry, but investigators are still working to determine its exact connection to the shooting.
Authorities say an ongoing gang feud may have led to the gunfire which also killed a state corrections officer later identified as 20-year-old Tyleisha Taylor, an employee at Dade Correctional Institution since January 2020, according to state officials.
“We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting,” Florida Secretary of Corrections Mark Inch said in a statement. “Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss.”
The driver wounded on the turnpike was listed in stable condition at Jackson South Memorial and expected to survive.
The identities and conditions of the other wounded were not immediately available.
Authorities expressed frustration about the sudden uptick in gun violence.
“Every weekend, it’s the same thing. We have to band together,” Ramirez said. “There’s a lot of work to do. We have to come together as a community and make this stop.”
The shooting happened less than a week after another mass shooting at a banquet hall in the Miami area that left three people dead and 20 wounded. So far, no suspects have been identified or arrested.
Another shooting May 28 in the Wynwood area killed one and injured six others.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she was “horrified” by the ongoing bloodshed.
“We will not allow a small group of violent actors to terrorize our community, and violent offenders will face the full weight of the law,” she said in a statement.
“I’m fully committed to making sure Miami-Dade Police Department has all the resources they need to end this cycle of gun violence and prevent more tragedy by getting violent criminals off the street,” she added.
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
About the Author
