MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police announced Wednesday that officers have arrested three suspects in a July quadruple shooting in the Goulds area of southwest Miami-Dade.
A fourth suspect in the shooting, which happened July 29 at an apartment complex on Southwest 216th Street, remains at large.
That suspect is accused of pulling the trigger. All four of the victims were teenagers and survived.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesperson, said investigators were able to identify the driver and passenger of the vehicle involved in the shooting. Driver Ariel Acosta and passenger, Quintavious Bryson, both 20, were arrested and charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with physical evidence Tuesday.
Acosta’s mother, 46-year-old Huguette Acosta, faces the same charges.
According to an arrest form, detectives identified the 2022 Nissan Sentra involved in the shooting on Aug. 1 and executed a search warrant later, finding ballistic evidence that matched evidence collected at the scene of the crime.
Police wrote that Ariel Acosta admitted to detectives that he and Bryson were in the car while another male shot at the four teens at the Cutler Manor Apartments. He said the shooter asked Acosta to drive by the complex.
Later, Acosta admitted to cleaning out the vehicle to remove evidence, including spent shell casings and later asking his mother to swap out the license plate on the vehicle in an attempt to conceal his identity.
Police said Huguette Acosta, who owned the vehicle, agreed. They said they watched her as she drove to an auto tag agency on South Dixie Highway and changed out the plates.
According to the arrest form, Acosta admitted that she was aware that her son was involved in the shooting and changed the license plate in order to conceal the vehicle’s identity and “protect her son.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.