NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Charges have been dropped against one of the men arrested in connection to a Northwest Miami-Dade banquet hall shooting.
One of the three men believed to be behind the shooting at El Mula Banquet Hall is no longer being charged.
Investigators said the three suspects opened fire on a crowd outside of the banquet hall on May 30.
Twenty people were injured and three victims died following the shooting.
Twenty-two-year-old Davonte Barnes was the first to be arrested.
Twenty-year-old Warneric Buckner was also arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and 20 counts of attempted murder but on Wednesday, prosecutors dropped the charges against him.
He was released Wednesday night.
The decision was made after, they said, detectives improperly got a confession from Buckner after he asked for an attorney.
The State Attorney’s Office released a ‘No Action’ memo Wednesday. “Upon further review of the recorded statement, after the defendant initially invoked his right to counsel, and despite the invocation, homicide investigators with the Miami-Dade Police Department continued to conduct an interrogation.”
A criminal defense attorney broke down what this meant.
“That statement is tainted, that statement is illegally obtained because someone has a fifth amendment right, a constitutionally protected right not to speak to the police. So when they say I want a lawyer. The police are supposed to stop that questioning,” said Eric Schwartzreich, Defense Attorney.
Prosecutors are saying that confession could be considered inadmissible evidence. According to the memo, “Without the statement, the State of Florida concludes that there is insufficient evidence, at this point in time, to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez expressed his disappointment with the dropped charges on social media.
The case remains open.
The state said Buckner could face other charges in the future as more evidence is uncovered.
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