MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A father is “thankful” that a suspect was formally charged for killing his 6-year-old daughter in northwest Miami-Dade on Jan. 16, 2021.
“The detectives kept their word. I’m glad and I’m thankful,” Chassidy’s father Charles Saunders told Local 10 News on Thursday. “It just took forever and it’s finally here. I thought it was gonna be a cold case.”
According to authorities, the victim, Chassidy Saunders, was driven by a family friend to a toddler’s outdoor birthday party in Miami, near Northwest 54th Street and Sixth Place before the shooting.
But just as the party was wrapping up around 7 p.m., a barrage of bullets rang out.
Two adults were shot, and Chassidy died after being shot in the head. A black vehicle sped away from the scene, police said.
Miami police confirmed that Warneric Anthony Buckner, 22, who was already behind bars on unrelated federal charges, has been charged with second-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Buckner was also one of the men arrested in connection to the mass shooting at El Mula Banquet Hall, which killed three people and sent several other victims to the hospital.
Prosecutors dropped those charges after Miami-Dade police allegedly got a confession out of Buckner in the absence of the lawyer that he asked for.
Charles Saunders said he wasn’t surprised after the suspect was identified after learning about his arrest history.
“If he did it at a kids’ party and a banquet hall, and got away, what makes you think you wouldn’t do it again?” Saunders asked.
Other family members told Local 10 News they were relieved about the sentence but still want more questions answered.
“I wanna know how y’all link him to my grandbaby’s killing. I’m grateful that you got him but we need answers to know how did you link this to him?” asked Sharon Cullins, Chassidy’s grandmother.
The case is being prosecuted by the Broward State Attorney’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
The family told Local 10 News they would be gathering Thursday night to honor the life of Chassidy Saunders.