Almost 3 years after a deadly triple shooting in North Miami claimed the lives of a father and his two adult sons, a jury has found the gunman guilty.
Pierce Hoempler was convicted of first-degree and second-degree murder charges in the Nov. 13, 2023, killing of Hector Rivera and his two sons, Jeremy and Frank Rivera.
Hoempler was involved in a physical altercation with his neighbor, Hector Rivera, before the two ended up on the ground on the lawn of their apartment complex on Northeast 5th Avenue near 123rd Street.
Hoempler was on top of Rivera, pinning him to the ground, when Rivera’s two sons, Jeremy Rivera and Frank Rivera, came to their father’s aid, an arrest report said.
That’s when Hoempler pulled a semi-automatic pistol out of his waistband and shot all three, the report said.
GoFundMeGoFundMe
Hector Rivera, Frank Rivera, Jeremy Rivera
Hector and Jeremy Rivera were pronounced dead at the scene, and Frank Rivera was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died from his injuries.
Police body camera footage showed Hoempler in custody after the incident.
“I had no choice, I had no choice,” he said. “Bruh, I was telling him to ‘chill, don’t do this, your grandkids are right there.'”
But in a statement Wednesday, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the verdict was justice for the family.
“The senseless murder of Hector Rivera and his two sons, Jeremy and Frank, was made even more tragic as they were gunned down in front of Frank’s 8-year-old and 10-year-old sons who lost their father, uncle, and grandfather all at once,” the statement read. “Even though we know that nothing can bring back Hector, Jeremy, and Frank to their beloved family, we hope that this verdict can bring them some sense of closure after enduring such unimaginable pain.”
Hoempler, now 36, is expected to be sentenced next month.