Man jailed in connection to deadly Little Haiti festival shooting, police say

What began as a festive day celebrating Caribbean culture featuring food, art and music at the Taste of Karnival Miami in Little Haiti on Sunday ended in a shooting that left two people injured and one killed. On Friday, police announced that they found the man who they say opened fire.

A Miami police public service aide was working off-duty at the event at Northeast Second Avenue and 62nd Street when he radioed officers that several shots were fired in the area around 11:20 p.m., according to the arrest affidavit of Jamesly Mezime, 22.

Miami officers responded and were simutaneously getting ShotSpotter alerts of two shots fired in the area of 150 NE 62nd St., near the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.

Police found a man with a gunshot wound to the chest unresponsive on the ground and took him to Jackson Memorial Ryder Trauma Center. The man, identified as 23-year-old Kitchner Cyrille, died just before midnight.

Another man was found with multiple gunshot wounds near the center stage of the event and was also taken to Ryder Trauma. A woman was found east of the stage with gunshot wounds to her legs and taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Police say multiple surveillance camera footage showed a “physical altercation” between multiple men in the crowd near the stage. Mezime could be seen in a white shirt pulling a gun from his waistband and shoot Cyrille, police say.

Hours later, police say that a witness called and said the shooter is her ex-boyfriend who killed Cyrille.

Investigators say at around 10:30 p.m. the day of the shooting, a Black Dodge Charger was captured by a license plate reader driving in the area of the event before parking in an empty parking lot. Five men exited the car and walked toward the festival.

Footage showed the men walking around the festival, including Mezime who was wearing a white Amiri shirt, walk through the crowd until he was behind Cyrille, according to the arrest affidavit. The shooting is captured on camera. Police say the men Mezime was with could be seen removing items from Cyrille’s pockets as he lay on the ground before disappearing into the crowd.

The group made their way back to the car and left.

The car was spotted in Pembroke Pines on Thursday and police made a felony traffic stop. The people in the car were ordered to exit, including Mezime, who said he was on the the way to turn himself in, according to the arrest affidavit.

Mezime was taken in for questioning and told police he arrived to the festival on Sunday with the other men and walked around the food area for a bit and decided to leave because the festival was about to end, according to his arrest affidavit. He said as he was walking through the crowd he felt someone push him from behind. He turned around and was punched in the face by a man and saw another reach into his blue jacket and pull out a gun.

Mezime said he was defending himself by shooting the man in the blue jacket “twice in the legs,” before he ran away, per the affidavit. He lost his phone during the shooting and gave a person cash to order him an Uber that took him home. He said he was wearing a white Amiri shirt.

Mezime said that he left the gun he used, a green 9mm glock 19x, was at his home.

He was arrested and taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Court records show Mezime is charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 11:45 AM.