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Evelyn Valdes, left, was a bystander who was shot by a Miami police officer as she drove past a Wynwood nightclub. At right is her mother, Kristy Garcia.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
The three Miami police officers who shot three civilians, killing a Baptist Health social worker stuck in traffic outside a Wynwood nightclub last year, won\u2019t face criminal charges, according to a Miami-Dade State Attorney report obtained on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investigation has determined that the officers were legally justified in the use of deadly force by discharging their weapons. Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed,\u201d Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a letter to Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez.<\/p>\n
On June 14, 2025, the officers fired shots responding to a fight that broke out inside the Electric Lady nightclub at 144 NW 23rd Street around 3 a.m., according to the report. The scuffle spilled out into the street.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Officer who shot bystander in Wynwood likely won\u2019t be charged, attorney says<\/a><\/p>\n Two of the officers, Sgt. Javier Herbello and Officer Dorian Acosta, were firing at an armed man, Norman Lindo, Jr., when he emerged from the side entrance of the club. Lindo was holding a gun pointed at the ground, the report states.<\/p>\n Herbello and Acosta were standing beside a parked car and began firing at Lindo, who was in a shoving match with Santiago Hernaiz. The two were among two quarreling groups inside the club that began to fight, according to the report. Lindo was shot 10 times. Security camera footage showed him collapse on the street. Hernaiz was not hit by the officers\u2019 gunfire<\/p>\n But a bullet coming from Acosta\u2019s gun hit the abdomen of a bystander, Evelyn Caridad Valdes, who was inside a Mazda SUV that was slowly driving by the club. Valdes died later that morning at Jackson Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n A bullet grazed the leg of another woman who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Mazda. Another officer, Sgt. Jose Cabrera, was standing at the front entrance of the club when the barrage of bullets began flying. He took out his weapon and accidentally shot the club\u2019s manager, John Fortini, who was standing next to him, in the hand, according to the report.<\/p>\n The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigated the shooting, found 12 casings at the scene. Seven stemmed from Herbello\u2019s firearm, four from Acosta\u2019s and one from Cabrera\u2019s.<\/p>\n In the memo, prosecutors say the officers\u2019 use of force was justified because they may have felt that deadly force was necessary to \u201cprevent death or great bodily harm to themselves, patrons of the nightclub and pedestrians in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n The panel of prosecutors determined that Valdes\u2019 \u201ctragic death\u201d and Fortini\u2019s injury were \u201cnot caused by criminal acts,\u201d according to the report. They also found that Lindo\u2019s shooting was legally justified.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Family of woman accidentally killed by Miami police at Wynwood club files suit<\/a><\/p>\n Valdes was celebrating her 28th birthday that night with her friends when she was shot. Valdes\u2019 family is suing the Miami Police Department for the shooting in Miami federal court. Her mother, Kristy Garcia, speaking to reporters last week, said she was frustrated to hear that the officer who killed her daughter is not going to be prosecuted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe State Attorney\u2019s office may close the investigation into the vicious and gratuitous police shooting that killed my daughter,\u201d Garcia said in a statement Friday. \u201cThe office\u2019s decision, however, will not close her life, her achievements or the love she gave to everyone she touched.\u201d<\/p>\n Ramon Rasco, the attorney representing Valdes\u2019 family in the civil suit, said they were disappointed by the lack of criminal charges.<\/p>\n \u201cThe non-prosecution decision was delivered to the family prior to turnover of any files, which as of this writing has yet to occur,\u201d Rasco said in a statement. \u201cThe lack of transparency has added to the family\u2019s disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n Grethel Aguila<\/a><\/p>\n Miami Herald<\/p>\n Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.\n <\/p>\n![\"Kristy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_1531.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1531.jpg\\"")
Kristy Garcia, the mother of Evelyn Valdes, who was shot and killed by police after getting caught in the crossfire of an incident in Wynwood, speaks at a news conference outside the Miami-Dade State Attorney\u2019s Office on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Grethel Aguila gaguila@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
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