MIAMI — Miami police say a woman walking out of a food store got caught in a hail of gunfire during a violent dispute between two groups, who all left her dying on the sidewalk after she took a bullet to the neck.
Now, four men are facing charges in connection with the late-December killing of Desiree Gonzalez in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood. Police believe the 39-year-old “was not the intended target of the shooting.”
Records show that Jeferzon Mendoza and Cristian Reyes, both 18, are facing first-degree murder charges. Mauricio Baquedano, 18, and Abraham Estrada Solano, 19, are facing charges of accessory after the fact and evidence tampering.
The shooting happened outside the Habibi Mini Market, located at 1810 SW Third St., just before midnight on Dec. 27.
Investigators said several witnesses told them it all stemmed from an incident where “two unknown males” pulled a gun on Estrada Solano and Baquedano as they walked to the food store.
Police said Estrada Solano and Baquedano alerted their companions, and the group took a ride to the store on two bikes.
Authorities said the group confronted the two males and Mendoza and Reyes opened fire on them, firing 17 rounds, striking Gonzalez once as she walked out of the store.
After the groups fled and first responders arrived, medics took Gonzalez to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where doctors would pronounce her dead less than an hour later. Witnesses told Local 10 News after the shooting that Gonzalez was homeless and frequently visited the store.
Police said they identified Baquedano from surveillance footage taken when he made a purchase inside the store earlier that evening. Another Miami police detective, authorities said, recognized him from another homicide investigation, in which he was a “witness/victim.”
During an interview last Friday, they said Baquedano admitted to being involved and identified the others as “his friends, Abraham, Cristian and Jeferzon.”
Police said Baquedano admitted that he and Estrada Solano drove the motorbikes to Coral Gables and “dumped” them before heading home in an Uber.
Police said that they corroborated Baquedano’s statements about the crime by showing him photographs of Reyes and Mendoza Herrera, which he positively identified.
They said they weren’t immediately able to identify Estrada Solano, but tied him to the case through cellphone evidence.
Police said a search of Baquedano’s phone revealed a contact number linked to Estrada Solano and records obtained from T-Mobile placed his phone in the area of the shooting before, during and after the homicide.
Police said they were still unable to get Estrada Solano’s full identity and later used real-time tracking authorized by a warrant to locate him at his home in the Flagami neighborhood, where he was taken into custody and later confessed.
All four were booked into jail early Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Mendoza, of Opa-locka, is also facing an attempted murder charge in a separate case stemming from a shots-fired incident in Miami’s Little River neighborhood on the afternoon of Jan. 22.
Investigators said a masked Mendoza opened fire during a dispute between “several teenage males” near Northwest Second Avenue and 75th Street.
They said license plate information from the getaway vehicle and surveillance footage tied him to that case.
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