A man accused of being a lookout for the shooters of the 2021 deadly mass shooting at the El Mula banquet hall was convicted Friday of several second-degree murder and attempted murder charges.
After two weeks of trial and 20 witnesses, jurors decided on lesser charges for Davonte Barnes and decided he was guilty of three counts of second-degree murder and 20 counts of second-degree attempted murder. Additionally, Barnes was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Shaniqua Peterson, Desmond Owens and Clayton Dillard were killed that Memorial Day weekend when multiple shooters pulled up to the banquet hall and started shooting.
“You can see on that video, his mom's silver Nissan Maxima pulled up a few inches, where the intended target was with his supporters," said Christopher Flanagan an Associate State Attorney during closing statements. "The second that event happens you can see within two minutes, the final pieces are set, and they open fire on the crowd."
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Barnes wasn't accused of firing any of the gunshots, but police say he cased the crowd and alerted the three shooters when some of their targets – including a local rap artist - were among those outside the club, which was hosting a premiere party for another rap artist’s new album.
"They knew the target, they knew the plan, and they executed it,” Flanagan said.
Barnes was arrested first, in September 2021, followed two weeks later by Anthony Warneric Buckner, who police say confessed to being one of the gunmen and named the others involved.
But prosecutors found Buckner’s confession came after he repeatedly asked for a lawyer, and therefore would not have been allowed in court, so his charges were dismissed.
Barnes also confessed to being a lookout during an interrogation. However, his attorney Robert Barrar said his client was manipulated and highlighted two hours of distorted interrogation video that jurors couldn’t listen to. State attorneys said they tried their best to recover the audio but failed.
Barrar mocked the police and their excuses, adding, “We were only talking about dogs, rap and football. If you believe that ladies and gentlemen (referring to the jury), you can believe I play in the NBA."
The office of Miami-Dade State Attorney said in a statement:
“The jury’s verdict finding Davonte Barnes guilty for his essential role in the May 30, 2021, El Mula banquet hall killings, which left 3 people dead and 20 people wounded, is supported by the overwhelming evidence presented in court,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “This guilty verdict is not the end of this detailed investigation but just the successful first step in the law enforcement effort to obtain justice for all the shooting victims, those who lost their lives and those who still live with the pain of that night’s events. I congratulate the Miami-Dade Police Department homicide detectives and officers who helped bring this case to a positive conclusion and Assistant State Attorneys Christopher Flanagan and Kioceaia Stenson, whose superb work brought this case to its proper final result.”
