Uncle of top Democrat in Florida state house shot dead mowing his lawn on Christmas Eve
.jpeg "Dennis McGhee, shown recently with his wife, was shot and killed while mowing his lawn the day before Christmas. His nephew, Fla. State Rep. Kionne McGhee said he was killed by a stray bullet, though police have not confirmed that.")
For the second year in a row, it appears someone was killed by a stray bullet in South Florida just before Christmas. The latest victim: Dennis McGhee, the 57-year-old uncle of Florida House Rep. Kionne McGhee.
Though details remain sketchy, Kionne McGhee said his uncle was mowing his lawn on the morning of Christmas Eve when he was hit. Family members said they heard the gunfire from inside the home in the 26000 block of Southwest 139th Avenue and raced outside.
“He was hit by a stray bullet fired nearby. He was not the intended target,” McGhee said he was told by people with knowledge of the shooting.
Miami-Dade police couldn’t confirm that on Friday but said they were alerted to the shooting by a nearby Shotspotter, an electronic monitoring system that records gunfire in real time. When they arrived, Miami-Dade Det. Alvaro Zabaleta said, they found Dennis McGhee dead with a chest wound in front of his home.
Just over a year ago, a Kendall man named Yemil Arguelles was shot and killed while attending a Christmas party in Kendale Lakes. When Arguelles was struck. he grabbed his chest and friends thought he was suffering a heart attack. They soon discovered he had been shot by a bullet that police believe came from a gun fired across a large lake.
A year later, despite pleas for help from friends, family and police, that shooting still has not been solved.
Kionne McGhee said his uncle was a “good guy,” who was recognized as the “neighborhood uncle.” The House representative said Dennis McGhee was the brother of his mother and was married with children. He worked in construction.
“When you lose someone like Dennis McGhee it’s hard for anyone to come to grips. She’s [the representative’s mother] taking it very hard,” said Kionne McGhee, who added that he had “full faith” in the police department’s ability to solve the shooting.
Kionne McGhee is the top Democrat in the Florida House of Representatives. First elected in 2012, his district stretches from Florida City to Richmond Heights.
He’s been an active voice in the community, supporting several pieces of legislation to curb gun violence, like universal background checks, the surrendering of weapons by those convicted of domestic violence, and flexible spending for the Guardian Program to place officers at public schools in the wake of the Parkland high school shooting. That shooting almost two years ago left 17 dead and 17 others injured.
More locally, McGhee has led several town hall meetings within his district, including one earlier this year in which he said most of the violent crimes being committed were done by teens and young adults and urging people to speak up and contact authorities if they know anything.
A service for for Dennis McGhee will take place on Jan. 4 at Morningstar Missionary Baptist Church in Goulds, 22769 SW 120th Ave.
Anyone with information on the shooting should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 11:39 AM.
