A man who acted as a lookout for the gunmen during a 2021 mass shooting outside a Miami-Dade banquet hall that left three people dead and 21 wounded has been sentenced to life in prison.
Davonte Barnes, 24, was given the life sentence during a hearing Friday.
"It’s a miracle that more did not lose their life in this sensless shooting and tragedy," Miami-Dade Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez said. "Your sentence is life concurrent to all counts."
Prosecutor Christopher Flanagan said the punishment was fitting.
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"This is the largest mass shooting in Miami-Dade County’s history," Flanagan said. "Do I recognize that this defendant might have had a lesser degree of participation? Sure, we waived the death penalty for him. We likely won't do that for the shooters."
Barnes was convicted in September on three counts of second-degree murder and 20 counts of second-degree attempted murder in the May 30, 2021 shooting outside the El Mula banquet hall.
The shooting claimed the lives of Shaniqua Peterson, Desmond Owens and Clayton Dillard.
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"Though this is a step in obtaining justice for the families of Shaniqua Peterson, Desmond Owens, and Clayton Dillard III, and of the injured, nothing can erase the loss and pain of that night’s events," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "We hope this result will be the beginning of healing for them and the community."
At Friday's hearing, family members were allowed to give statements and address Barnes.
"Every day I look in the mirror I see her because I see me. And I look so much like her, to where her son breaks down when he looks at me," Peterson's mother said.
"What is wrong with you man? You're going to pay for this. You must burn," said Dillard's father, Clayton Dillard Sr.
Barnes was also allowed to give a statement.
"My apologies to the family, mothers and fathers. I'm truly sorry for what happened to your kids," he said.
Barnes wasn't accused of firing any of the gunshots but police said 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.
Video showed a stolen Nissan Pathfinder pull up around the corner from the club, and three gunmen emerge, spraying the sidewalk with gunfire. A total of 99 shell casings fired from nine different firearms – including those of potential victims returning fire – were recovered from the scene.
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.
Although the charges were dropped against him, detectives used evidence from the El Mula shooting to charge Buckner in the Jan. 16, 2021 killing of 6-year-old Chassidy Saunders.
