Detectives say 39-year-old Desiree Gonzalez was not the intended target in the Dec. 27 shooting.
MIAMI, FL — Miami police have arrested four young men and a teenage boy tied to a late-December shooting that killed a woman walking out of a neighborhood food store in Little Havana. The arrests, announced Friday and Saturday, follow weeks of work that pulled surveillance video, witness accounts and phone records together.
Investigators say the gunfire erupted just before midnight Dec. 27 outside a corner market on Southwest Third Street, where Desiree Gonzalez, 39, stepped into the line of fire. Detectives contend the shooters were aiming at two males in an ongoing dispute and that Gonzalez, who friends said spent time in the area, was an unintended victim. The case now spans two incidents: the fatal shooting outside the store and a separate Jan. 22 gunfire episode that involved some of the same suspects. Police say the evidence includes store cameras, nearby footage and cellphone data placing key defendants at the scene.
According to arrest affidavits, officers responded around 11:50 p.m. Dec. 27 to reports of shots fired in the 1800 block near the Habibi Mini Market. Surveillance video shows two pairs riding motorized bicycles stop and confront two males outside the store. Moments later, at least 17 rounds were fired, investigators said. Gonzalez had just walked out when a bullet struck her in the neck. Medics took her to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later, police said. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” a detective wrote in an affidavit. A friend who frequented the block described Gonzalez as a cheerful regular who greeted passersby and often chatted with store staff.
Police named the adult defendants as Jeferzon Mendoza, 18; Cristian Reyes, 18; Mauricio Jose Baquedano, 18; and Abraham Estrada Solano, 19. A fifth suspect is under 18 and was not publicly identified. Investigators say video from inside the store earlier that night helped identify one defendant after he made a purchase. Detectives also recognized a figure from a separate case and later tied phones associated with the group to the area before, during and after the gunfire. In interviews described in affidavits, one suspect acknowledged being present and named companions who, detectives say, opened fire at the two males outside. Officers later recovered details about how the group left on motorized bikes and abandoned them elsewhere.
Records show Mendoza and Reyes face first-degree murder charges connected to Gonzalez’s death. Baquedano and Estrada Solano face counts including accessory after the fact and evidence tampering. The juvenile faces related offenses that authorities have not fully detailed publicly. In a separate case, Mendoza is also charged with attempted murder in a Jan. 22 shooting in the Little River area after a fight among several teenage males near Northwest Second Avenue and 75th Street, according to police. In that incident, investigators say a red Hyundai Elantra brought masked individuals to the scene before shots were fired; surveillance video and tag information later led detectives to a stop that helped connect the cases.
The Dec. 27 killing marked another high-profile act of violence in Little Havana, a densely populated neighborhood west of downtown Miami. Police said the intended targets in front of the store fled amid the barrage and have not been formally identified. Detectives also noted a 911 call minutes earlier about a fight involving about 10 males in the area. The market sits among small apartment buildings and late-night eateries where people tend to congregate after work. The stretch around Southwest Third Street and 18th Avenue is wired with private cameras that investigators canvassed in the days after the shooting. Friends set flowers near the storefront as news spread that the woman killed was Gonzalez, who they said often stopped by for snacks and conversation.
Affidavits describe a multi-pronged investigation by the Miami Police Department, including video pulls from the store and nearby streets, phone location records obtained from carriers, and what officers called “real-time tracking” executed under warrant to find a suspect at a home in the Flagami area. Detectives say Baquedano told them he and Estrada Solano rode the motorbikes to Coral Gables after the shooting and dumped them before leaving in a ride-hail. Police say those details were buttressed by additional footage and device data, as well as photo identifications. Authorities emphasized that Gonzalez was not the target, and that no evidence suggests she knew anyone involved in the dispute outside the store.
The defendants made initial appearances in Miami-Dade court over the weekend. Prosecutors said they are reviewing surveillance footage, shell casing counts and ballistic testing as they weigh additional charges. A bail hearing for the adult defendants is expected this week. Police have not announced the recovery of the firearms used and did not release ballistic match results. Detectives are still working to locate and interview the two males believed to have been targeted in front of the store. The department plans an update once lab reports and additional witness statements are in hand. Funeral plans for Gonzalez were not immediately available.
Neighbors continued to stop by the corner Sunday, some pausing at a small cluster of candles near the entrance. “She was kind to everyone,” said a man who gave his name as Luis and said he often chatted with Gonzalez by the door. A nearby resident described hearing a flurry of shots and people shouting before engines revved and sped off. Store workers, who declined to be quoted, said they had shared video with detectives and were trying to reopen on a normal schedule. A woman who lives across the street said she woke to sirens and later learned the victim’s name from other regulars. By afternoon, children were riding scooters along the block while officers in unmarked cars circled the area.
As of Tuesday afternoon, police say the investigation into both the Dec. 27 homicide and the Jan. 22 Little River case remains active, with additional forensic testing pending. The next court calendar for the adult defendants is expected later this week. Detectives said they will release further details as records become public and once they locate the men believed to have been the intended targets.
Author note: Last updated February 3, 2026.