<\/p>\n
Tangela Johnson, mother of Derrick Gloster, 18, who was shot and killed in 2009 in Liberty City, walks from house to house appealing for help from the community in hopes of finding her son\u2019s killer, Jan 28, 2009.<\/p>\n
C.W. GRIFFIN<\/p>\n
Miami Herald file<\/p>\n
READ MORE<\/p>\n
Deal with the Devil<\/p>\n
\n A Miami Herald investigation into how a mass shooter became Miami prosecutors\u2019 informant\n <\/p>\n
Expand All<\/p>\n
Two moms who agonized for years about the unsolved 2009 murder of their teenage sons in Liberty City are suing the Miami Police Department for not telling them that the killer had secretly confessed and been granted immunity from prosecution.<\/p>\n
Adding insult to injury, they say, the department won\u2019t release the case file to them unless they pay $1,831.<\/p>\n
Lasonja \u201cSonja\u201d Mills and Tangela Johnson filed a lawsuit Thursday morning for unlawful withholding of public records, withholding in bad faith, unreasonable fees, and violating their rights as crime victims under Marsy\u2019s Law. They\u2019re seeking nine boxes of Miami police case material, to help them understand why detectives and state prosecutors made the deal.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the police department said the agency does not comment on open litigation.<\/p>\n
The mothers learned in 2024 from the Miami Herald<\/a> that the killer, William \u201cLittle Bill\u201d Brown, had been given a free pass for multiple shootings, including the one that took the lives of their teen sons. That night on Jan. 23, 2009, Brown and another young man \u2014 who has since died \u2014 sprayed bullets into a crowd of teenagers in Liberty City, killing Derrick Lamont Gloster Jr., 18, and Brandon Rashad Mills, 16. Seven other young people were injured.<\/p>\n Brown was given a 25-year sentence for two different murders and no time at all for the other killings to which he confessed. Based on his admissions, Brown was involved in the shootings of 15 people \u2014 six of them fatal.<\/p>\n \u201cThey treated us like our sons were the shooters,\u201d Mills, the mother of Brandon, said Wednesday night, \u201cand for many years now that our sons are gone, they treat our families like we are the criminals. And the real shooter for 17 years has been treated like a king.\u201d<\/p>\n After publication of the Herald\u2019s investigative series, \u201cDeal with the Devil,<\/a>\u201d Brown was sent off to state prison<\/a>. He\u2019d been living in the county jail for years, collecting information for police and prosecutors.<\/p>\n Miami-Dade State Attorney\u2019s Office prosecutor Michael Von Zamft\u2019s<\/a> unorthodox relationship with Brown led to the release last year of one inmate serving four life sentences, Taji Pearson<\/a>, and contributed to the dropping of the death penalty last year for another, Corey Smith.<\/a> Pearson\u2019s attorney Michele Borchew, who first discovered evidence of the improper deal with Brown, is now representing Mills and Johnson in their lawsuit against the Miami Police Department.<\/p>\n Johnson, the mother of Derrick, said they are seeking \u201cclarity and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, we have concerns that the investigation may have been incomplete, biased, or handled improperly,\u201d she said. \u201c … Our hope is that, through transparency, we can better understand the decisions that were made and identify any gaps that may have prevented a just outcome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While Mills and Johnson were kept in the dark, Von Zamft helped relocate the killer\u2019s mother under the witness protection relocation program, and police then paid rent for her, records in Pearson\u2019s case showed.<\/p>\n Von Zamft, who retired and moved out of state, remains under investigation by the Florida Bar, a spokeswoman said Thursday.<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, the mothers say they\u2019ve been requesting the files for two years, through attorney Borchew. Even if they pay the $1,831, the police aren\u2019t offering to release all the records in the case. The department claims the case is still open and that they can\u2019t release \u201cspecific details about the investigation,\u201d an exhibit to the lawsuit shows.<\/p>\n After the Miami Herald series, the police department reactivated the investigation. But it did not lead to an arrest.<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, the mothers argue that there is no chance of prosecution, so the materials should be released. They argue that under Marsy\u2019s Law, which became effective seven years ago in Florida, they have the right to be advised about the case. Though the law wasn\u2019t in existence when the settlement deal was made, the \u201congoing concealment of these facts\u201d violates their rights, the lawsuit argues. They also argue that as next of kin, they should be entitled to receive the case documents \u201cwithout unreasonable fees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe true purpose of withholding the records,\u201d the lawsuit says, \u201cis to conceal prosecutorial misconduct and the secret immunity deal that allowed a confessed mass murderer to walk free, not to protect an ongoing investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n![\"Lasonja](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MIA_LIBERTYCITYMASSACRE_9875.JPG\" "\\"MIA_LIBERTYCITYMASSACRE_9875.JPG\\"")
Lasonja Mills, mother of 16-year-old Brandon Mills who was killed in a mass shooting in 2009, hugs the shoes that her son was killed in. She returned in August 2024 to where his body was found near Northwest 15th Avenue in Liberty City. \u2018His father used to call him yellow,\u2019 said Mills. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
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