SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two of the three people arrested in the fatal shooting of a teenager at a Halloween party in Southwest Miami-Dade faced a judge on Wednesday morning.
Shortly after Miami-Dade Police announced they had arrested a third suspect, 18-year-old Marcos Gonzalez, he and 18-year-old Matthew Hernandez appeared in bond court.
Police arrested Hernandez and 17-year-old Josue Cao on Tuesday for the murder of 15-year-old Angel Cueli outside the home in the area of Southwest 132nd Avenue and 200th Street.
Cueli was shot Saturday night at a party after, investigators said, someone went up to the house, shot a gun multiple times towards party-goers and then ran and got into a getaway car.
The teenager was transported to the hospital where he later died.
Detectives said Cueli was the wrong target in a gang-related shooting.
Prosecutors said Cao and Hernandez were the people who fired the shots while Gonzalez was the getaway driver.
“Mr. Hernandez does implicate himself as being in the car, does state that he does fire out of the vehicle,” prosecutors told Judge Renatha Francis in bond court. “There’s a young 15-year-old gentleman who was struck in the leg and later bleeds out and passes away at the hospital.”
Gonzalez, Cao and Hernandez are all facing a second-degree murder charge.
“This defendant gives a post-Miranda statement stating that he knew exactly their intentions to go down to the party,” prosecutors said when referencing Gonzalez. “He saw the weapons beforehand. He knew that they intended to shoot the party, and in fact, drive them there and then drive them away.”
After being informed about the original two arrests made in the case, Angel’s grandfather Francisco Cueli said, “That is good, but that [does not] return my grandchildren to me.”
A representative for the Cueli family released the following statement on Wednesday afternoon:
“On behalf of Angel Cueli’s family, we thank the community for the outpouring of love and support received over the last few days. It has moved us beyond words to know that Angel touched so many lives. We have a small measure of peace knowing that there will be justice for Angel and we are grateful to all who came forward with information. We ask that you respect our privacy as we mourn this unimaginable loss.”
Cao has also been charged with tampering with an electronic monitoring device. The 17-year-old was on probation for another crime when the shooting occurred.
His hearing has been postponed until Thursday morning.
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