MIAMI — A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at the Taste of Miami Karnival event that left one person dead and two others injured, police said.
Authorities identified the suspect as Jamesly Mezime.
The shooting happened near the main stage of the event off Northeast 62nd Street and Second Avenue in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
According to the arrest form, officers working the event heard multiple shots fired, while a ShotSpotter alert also detected gunfire in the area. When the officers responded, they found a man unresponsive on the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest.
That man was later identified by officials as 23-year-old Kitchner Cyrille.
Cyrille was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he later died.
A second man was found near the center stage with multiple gunshot wounds and was hospitalized in critical condition.
A third victim, a woman, was shot in the legs and taken to the hospital in stable condition, where she later was released.
According to the arrest report, surveillance cameras show a fight occurring in the crowd just after 11:20 p.m. Sunday before Mezime shot at two people and then fled on foot.
Police said the video also shows Mezime’s associates taking items from Cyrille’s pockets as he was laying on the ground before “dispersing in the crowd.”
Video obtained by police showed Mezime, of North Miami Beach, returning to a nearby parking lot. He was seen pacing near a black Dodge Charger before getting inside with others and leaving the area.
Police said license plate readers and surveillance cameras captured the same car circling the area before the shooting.
On Thursday, detectives found the Dodge Charger at a residence in Pembroke Pines and began surveillance. Authorities followed the vehicle as it traveled through Broward and Miami-Dade counties, eventually heading south on Interstate 95 and onto Interstate 195.
Just before 11:45 a.m., officers conducted a felony traffic stop. They ordered Mezime and two others in the car out of the vehicle and detained them.
Officers took all three to the Miami Police Department’s homicide office for questioning as the investigation continues.
According to the arrest form, Mezime told detectives he was walking through the crowd when he felt someone push or tug him from behind and turned around to see what was going on. He said a man wearing all black and a black hat punched him in the face, and another man wearing a blue hoodie reached into his waistband to take out a gun. Mezime said he shot both men in self-defense before fleeing.
Mezime is facing one count of second degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
As of Friday morning, records show he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with a bond listed as “to be set.”
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