Five people have now been charged after two teens were killed and five others were injured.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC — Two 16-year-old girls charged in connection with the deadly Leinbach Park shooting appeared in court Tuesday and were ordered held without bond as prosecutors described their alleged roles in the case.
Greidy Mendoza-Soriano and Karissa Gamez were charged Monday with felony inciting a riot and inciting a riot resulting in death. Both are being charged as adults. Their court appearances marked the latest step in a widening case tied to an April 20 fight that police said drew juveniles and adults to a city park before gunfire killed two teenage boys and injured five other people.
The shooting happened about 9:50 a.m. at Leinbach Park, near Jefferson Middle School in northwest Winston-Salem. Police have said the violence began with a planned fight between a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl. As word spread, about 15 people gathered either to take part in the fight or record it, authorities said. Prosecutors said in court that Mendoza-Soriano was allegedly involved in the altercation at the park. Mendoza-Soriano asked the judge to grant her bond. “I wasn’t the one that led to all the tragedy that happened,” she said.
Prosecutors said Gamez allegedly recorded video at the park. They asked that she be held without bond, citing information from a school resource officer that she and her family planned to leave the country to visit a sick relative. The judge asked whether family members were present at that point in the hearing and was told they were not. Gamez’s family later said the trip had been planned before the shooting. Her mother said she dropped Gamez off at school Monday and later learned her daughter was in police custody. Family members described Gamez as quiet and said she was not a troublemaker.
The April 20 shooting left 17-year-old Erubey Romero Medina and 16-year-old Daniel Milian dead at the scene. Police said five others between ages 14 and 19 were shot, including four girls and 18-year-old Joel Gamble-Toliver. Their injuries ranged from minor to serious. Investigators have said that after the first fight, two teen boys argued and two others began fighting. Police said Milian and Gamble-Toliver drew firearms and fired. Officials have not said whether the shot Gamble-Toliver allegedly fired toward Milian was the fatal shot.
Gamble-Toliver, 18, was arrested earlier in the investigation and later faced upgraded rioting charges, including inciting a riot resulting in death and engaging in a riot resulting in death. Prosecutors said a felony child abuse charge against him was dropped after the upgraded charges were filed. A judge also ordered him held without bond. Steven Villanueva, 17, was charged as an adult with felony inciting a riot. Yamilet Jimenez-Milian, 21, was charged with felony inciting a riot and received a $50,000 secured bond.
Winston-Salem Police Chief William Penn said after the shooting that the violence was senseless and had shaken the community. “I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m sad. This didn’t have to happen,” Penn said. Police said schools near the park were safe after the shooting, though the scene drew a large law enforcement response. The park sits in a residential area of Winston-Salem, a city of about 250,000 people. The case has raised new questions about how a planned fight among young people escalated into a deadly public shooting.
Mendoza-Soriano and Gamez are expected back in court May 14. Police have said the investigation remains active and ongoing, and prosecutors have continued to outline alleged roles as each defendant appears before a judge.
Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.