The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office decided to prosecute Michael Isaac Delgado, 17, as an adult after he admitted to firing a gun during a pre-arranged fight at the Atlantico at Aquabella complex in Hialeah, according to NBC Miami.
The incident occurred on September 1, when two groups of young people gathered in that residential complex, located in the northwest of the city, to resolve a dispute through a showdown that had been agreed upon the day before. What began as a fistfight quickly escalated when Delgado pulled out a gun.
According to the police report, the young man fired twice into the air and then chased one of the victims who was trying to escape, yelling, "I’m going to kill you," while continuing to shoot in their direction. The victim told investigators that they could hear the bullets whizzing past their head and body as they ran.
Another witness stated that Delgado aimed directly at his face and shot, forcing him to drop to the ground. A bullet also struck the rear door on the driver’s side of a black Chevrolet Tahoe where three victims were trying to escape, although no one was injured.
The police operation that followed the shooting was one of the largest recorded in the area: about 40 units from the Hialeah Police and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office were deployed in the vicinity, including canine units and security perimeters. The West Lakes Preparatory Academy, a school near the complex, was placed under a temporary security lockdown following the report of gunfire, and access to the complex remained blocked for more than two hours.
Delgado and a second young man, Luis Padilla Delatorre, also 17 years old, were arrested at 5:30 a.m. on September 2nd and initially taken to the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center. Padilla Delatorre admitted to having fired once into the air; Delgado confessed to the same but attributed the shots fired at the vehicle to his co-defendant.
More than six weeks later, the Prosecutor's Office used the mechanism known as "direct file," which in Florida allows prosecutors to file charges directly in an adult criminal court against minors aged 16 or 17 without the need for prior court approval. Delgado was admitted to the Metro West Detention Center, an adult correctional facility in the northwest of Miami-Dade.
This week, he appeared before Judge Carmen R. Cabarga, who ordered his preventive detention without bail. The formal charges include two felonies—second-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and the shooting of a deadly projectile—and two misdemeanors for possessing a firearm as a minor and illegal discharge of a firearm in public.
His defense attorney described the prosecutor's decision as "disappointing" and argued that the fight was mutual and that other participants were also carrying weapons.
"The evidence of mitigation shows that it was a mutual fight that escalated, and the other boys involved were also carrying weapons. We showed the prosecution that at least one of the young men from the other group has photos of himself with weapons, and yet they chose to proceed in adult court," stated López.
The lawyer announced that he will request a hearing to seek his client's release, possibly with an electronic ankle monitor and house arrest. "He is 17 years old. This is his first contact with the adult system," he noted.
In Florida, a conviction for attempted second-degree murder can result in up to 15 years in prison. Delgado's arraignment is scheduled for Monday, October 19, at 9:00 a.m.
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