Party held for slain grandmother in Miami Gardens

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Friends and family of 63-year-old Danette Johnson Simmons met Friday to celebrate her life. 

The celebration included a DJ because Johnson Simmons was always the life of the party. Attendees wore T-shirts with her picture. Loved ones described her as a caring woman with a big heart who wasn't afraid to give people a place to stay when they were struggling. 

Johnson's granddaughter Zara Simmons said she was relieved to find out Miami Gardens Police Department detectives arrested Lerio Minnis, Johnson's neighbor. He was allegedly upset because he wanted her Yorkshire terrier when he fatally shot her in the head April 4, police said. 

Prosecutors charged Minnis, 25, with second-degree murder and shooting a deadly missile into a dwelling.