NEW: Suspect in Riviera teen’s death linked to shooting by DNA – Palm Beach Post

RIVIERA BEACH

City policefound dozens of shell casings Dec. 23 scattered across West 36th Street. Eleven of those were fired from a gun with 19-year-old Torrance Smith Jr.s DNA, police say.

Smith and two other teens were arrested Wednesday in the drive-by shooting that left 15-year-oldMakayla Dennard dead and another man injured.Riviera Beach Police Chief Clarence Williams said Wednesday the arrests come as part of the citys crackdown on gun violence.

Smith appeared before Judge Dina Keever on Thursday but his bond hearing was delayed until Friday morning. The public defender offices is representing another teen charged in the case, so an attorney with the Office of Regional Counsel will be appointed to represent Smith to avoid any conflicts of interest.

More than a dozen teary-eyed relatives and friends sat in court Thursday, donning shirts in Makaylas honor.

My family has to suffer, so I think they need to suffer, Makaylas aunt Sherron Reed siad outside the courtroom. My sister has to live with this forever. Its a pain that will never go away.

The teens charged as juveniles in the shooting are scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday afternoon.

Smiths arrest report details city polices investigation into the shooting. Witnesses told detectives a shooting earlier that day on West 23rd Street in West Palm Beach left four young men rattled. They suspected they were the intended targets.

Witnesses said they saw the four young men in a black Kia. At least two had guns. Smith of West Palm Beach was in the right front seat of the Kia, a witness said, and pointed a gun toward Makayla and 20-year-old Nikobra Stringer. Gunshots rang out. Then the Kia sped away.

Makaylawas shot in the head and died four days later. Stringer was shot in the arm, a non-life threatening injury, police said.

One witness told police they saw four young men jump out of a Kia along 37th Street shortly after the shooting. They ran and left the Kia behind.

K9 units followed the suspects trail to an apartment complex on 37th Street. Police found three guns in the apartments common area, records show, one of which had Smiths DNA on it. That gun matched the 11 shell casings police found leading west from the crime scene.

It is unclear whether police are looking for a fourth suspect in the shooting. City police spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown said police have the suspects were looking for, though the investigation remains open. The two other teens arrested with Smith were minors at the age of the shooting, police said. One is now 17, the other 18.

The Dec. 23 shooting occurred at the same address where three people a 14-year-old male, a 17-year-old female and 25-year-old male were shot and wounded Nov. 19.

Late 2016 saw a rash of back-and-forth shootings along the Riviera and West Palm city lines.

These warring groups going back and forth, they know they are, we know who they are and if they step out of line I have confidence that these hard-working men and women (in the police department) will do what they each and every day, keep our community safe, Williams said.

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NEW: Suspect in Riviera teen's death linked to shooting by DNA - Palm Beach Post