MIAMI (WSVN) - Devastated loved ones are speaking out and sharing their grief, just over a week after their loved one was killed and another was injured in a shooting at a cultural festival in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
Speaking with 7News on Sunday, Edwidge Surin said she is is trying to make sense of the triple shooting that claimed her cousin’s life.
The family of the deceased victim identified him as 23-year-old Kitchner Cyrille.
“He is such a sweetie. He’s soft, he’s not confrontational, he doesn’t argue,” said Surin.
City of Miami Police said two other victims were taken to the hospital, including Surin’s younger brother.
“He caught three bullets: one in the forearm and one to the stomach, where they had to do a colon repair. Thank God he doesn’t need a bag.” she said. “And the third bullet came out close to his groin.”
Investigators said shots rang out near the main stage during the Second Annual Taste of Miami Karnival, near the intersection of Northeast 62nd Street and Second Avenue, just before midnight on Sunday, April 12.
Festival attendees were seen running for their lives after the gunfire erupted.
Paramedics with Miami Fire Rescue rushed all three victims to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center, where Cyrille was pronounced dead.
On Thursday, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detectives tracked down the suspected gunman in the middle of busy Biscayne Boulevard, near 38th Street. He was identified as 22-year-old Jamesly Mezime.
7Skyforce hovered above officers as, an arrest report states, they “…conducted a felony stop and safely apprehended Mezime without incident.”
Investigators said witness accounts and surveillance footage helped them piece it all together.
According to Mezime’s arrest report, “Cameras captured a physical altercation within the crowd, which the defendant … discharged a firearm at victim #1 and victim #2 and fled on foot.”
“This was just wonderful work done by our detectives — gathering all these videos, going through the videos and doing other detective work in order to apprehend this offender,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
The second surviving victim has since been released from the hospital.
Mezime appeared before a judge on Friday and was denied bond. He faces one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
“No bond, count one, no bond, count two, no bond, count three,” said the presiding judge during the hearing.
On Sunday, 7News cameras captured loved ones at the hospital, as they grieve the loss of the loved oneand remain hopeful another pulls through.
One relative had something to say about the suspect.
“This is the reality he’s going to have to live with, so we pray for his reality,” she said.
Surin did not mince words.
“You’re so young, you’re only [22]. You’re so young; you had a whole future ahead of you, so young. You just threw your life away,” she said.
The family of the victims has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral and hospital expenses. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
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