Posted on 06/02/2003 8:59:28 AM PDT by george wythe
A man apparently outraged by his neighbors' loud music and late-night partying opened fire on a Miami Beach birthday bash early Sunday, killing three revelers and wounding two others, police said.
The spray of bullets silenced the celebration for the wife of one of the victims and sent partygoers diving for cover at about 4 a.m., police said.
Among the dead: two young fathers and a Brazilian woman, hit as she stood partying inside unit 1 at Ronna Apartments, a peach-colored, two story building at 501 77th St.
All of the dead were South American immigrants. All died at the scene, their loved ones crying over their bodies. The suspected gunman, Kevin Evers, who lives in an apartment on the second floor of the building, was later arrested in Broward County.
The injured were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center. They are expected to recover.
Police said they believed ''loud music'' led to the triple slaying that terrorized partygoers. It was unclear whether Evers confronted partygoers over the music before the shooting, but witnesses said there was an argument.
AT LEAST 9 BULLETS
Bright yellow police cones placed by detectives outside the apartment Sunday indicated at least nine bullets tore into the crowd.
Several neighbors said that a woman who was injured had a baby in her arms when she was shot and that the bullet just missed the baby's head and hit her shoulder.
After the shooting, Evers, 41, ran away. He was later arrested at his parents home in Sunrise, police said. Sunday afternoon, Evers was transported back to Miami Beach police headquarters for interrogation. He faces three murder charges and two attempted murder charges. Evers had no serious criminal background in Florida, records indicate.
But there was a trespassing warning issued against him 10 days ago at a Coral Springs shopping mall, police said.
A NEWCOMER
Evers was a newcomer to the building, which has about 10 units. He had been living there with his girlfriend for a short time, police said.
''He came down here, and got into some type of argument,'' said Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez, standing outside the building Sunday morning. ``The subject pulls out a gun and started firing off rounds.''
Hernandez called the shootings the first slayings on Miami Beach this year.
Unlike in the south end of Miami Beach, Hernandez said, police do not field many noise complaints from the area where the shooting occurred and none that night. Police said Evers did not call police to complain about the party.
By city ordinance, music should not be audible within 100 feet of a residence after 11 p.m., police said.
Neighbor Fernández, who lived across the street, said that about 1 a.m. she heard Latin music blaring from the ground floor apartment where the party was taking place.
''It was loud,'' said Fernández, who thought it sounded like merengue, a hard-thumping dance music from the Dominican Republic.
After feeding her baby, she said she went to bed and woke up to the sound of gunshots several hours later. ''It was about six shots, one after the other,'' she said. Other neighbors said they heard as many as 10 shots.
NOTICED THE PARTY
Two other neighbors also noticed the party, but didn't recall the music being particularly loud.
''I was sleeping and first I heard screaming, then the shots,'' Nicolás Fernando-López, who lives in the building next door, said. `It must have been 10 or 11. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. A lot.''
When Fernando-López, 40, and other neighbors ran out to see what had happened, one man lay bleeding on the sidewalk, another on the patio of the apartment building. A third person lay over the doorway, Fernando-López said.
Beach police spokesman Hernandez said Evers was acquainted with at least some of the victims.
Hernandez said Evers did not have any prior convictions. He said a store owner in the Broward County mall filed a complaint with police after a tiff with Evers.
WIFE'S BIRTHDAY
Friends said it was Fondovila's wife -- identified as Melina Fondovila -- who was being feted Saturday night. Her birthday was Sunday.
They also said the couple had just celebrated their daughter's first birthday on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...
Yes, it was sarcasm; that's why he wrote the big
I can't stand all the racists and others on this thread that are giving DUers and other detractors ammo to shoot at FR with by saying/implying that loud music is justification for multiple murders. If you can't see how ridiculous that argument is, then you are blind.
By the way, I'll post where I please. If you don't like me posting responses to you, hopefully you won't try to murder me because you're annoyed, like the killer you're defending.
My personal favorite for taking the fun out of a drunk party is a box of *these* little jewels:
Just drop them where they'll be stepped on and crushed, then back off and watch the fun from a distance.
I thought of the circuit breaker trick, too - but I'm in the process of rewiring my garage, so I kind of have that stuff on my mind. An added nasty trick is to trip the main breaker, then use your own padlock (wiped clean of fingerprints) to lock the breaker box closed.
I don't give a damn what you can't stand.
Look, I don't like a lot of things, like liberals, religious fanatics, gay people, illegal aliens etc etc, but I don't suggest that anyone who posts in their favor be banned and I don't run to administrative moderator and cry about it like you did to the other poster. You are a cry baby.
People that do that make me gag. A real homeowners association type.
I can't stand people that run to authority at the drop of a hat because they may not like something that was said. You must be very afraid of real life, as it's a lot more brutal than anything that may be said here.
Look, I don't like a lot of things, like liberals, religious fanatics, gay people, illegal aliens etc
I don't give a damn what you don't like.
You must be very afraid of real life, as it's a lot more brutal than anything that may be said here.
It's not me that I'm concerned about - it's FR's reputation, which you obviously don't care about.
Why is it 'racist'? There are many, many people on the "annoying end of the gene pool" who are white, you know. If the poster used that exact same phrase, and the relevers in question were white, would you still accuse him of 'racism'? The "annoying end of the gene pool" he was referring to are people who are completely inconsiderate of others. In this case, they just happen to be Latino.
Genes don't make you "completely inconsiderate of others" - poor upbringing and stupid behavior does that. Genes make you black, white, hispanic, asian, etc.
Most of the time, they don't. But sometimes that DNA is in pretty bad shape. ....And anyway, it's an accepted expression.
Over a period of about 10 days, with a couple of packs of firecrackers, I conditioned the dog to go into his house everytime I go "Shhhh!", or turn on my outside light.Great success story!Its been two years and the only time the dog barks excessively is when its hugry, and even then, a "Shhh" will send him running into his doghouse.
I like creative solutions to these annoying neighbors' problems
Oh horse crap. LOL!
Look, the shooter obviously went sideways and snapped. He doesn't even have a criminal record. Obviously he needs to be given a rubber suit for life. This should be obvious to anyone with a brain that is not in a coma.
The people here were commenting on morons and lowlife that would be stupid enough to party at 4:00 a.m. in a GD apartment building of all places. Like I said before, if someone wakes me up at 4:00 my house better be on fire....Obviously this guy lost it and he will he punished. If people here want to comment on low life morons, what do you care?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.