A “beef” between men in Florida allegedly escalated to a drive-by shooting at a park that left a 3-year-old boy dead while he attended a birthday party, police say.
Police have completed their investigation into the July 2024 shooting death of 3-year-old Rylo Yancy, announcing that all suspects involved have been taken into custody on murder charges.
Rylo was killed when more than 20 shots were allegedly fired at a “patron” attending the “Sesame Street”-themed birthday party at Riverland Park.
According to a Fort Lauderdale police press release, Andrew St. Louis was captured in Tennessee and appeared in court Saturday, charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit murder with a firearm. Tommie Allen, 19, Antonio Carter, 20, and Tyler Hollins, 21, are also facing the same charges for Rylo’s murder.
A fifth suspect, Thaddeus Squire III, was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact.
The shooting unfolded around 4:30 p.m. on July 1 at the park located at 950 SW 27th Avenue. Investigators identified two vehicles involved in the shooting: a 2022 red Mercedes-Benz sedan and a 2017 black Mercedes-Benz sedan.
Police say the “beef” stemmed from an argument, and a specific individual at the party was being targeted by the group. The suspects, who referred to their rivals as “opps, aka the opposition,” allegedly “caught word” that one of their rivals had posted his location on Instagram, which led them to the park.
‘It Hit the Baby Instead’
Court documents detail the claims of a female witness who met up with Hollins and Squire earlier in the day. The woman alleged that the suspects were “flashing the gun, making jokes” and “talking to the people in the red car, making jokes about shooting each other.”
FLPD Sgt. Don Geiger condemned the suspects’ actions. “Because of the acts of these cowards right here, a baby is killed because they had a beef with someone else at the party and they couldn’t control their anger,” Geiger said last week.
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