Donald Eliam Centena, 17, is being prosecuted as an adult in connection with a shooting near Miami's Riverside Park. He was arrested on August 31 and faces charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a minor or unauthorized alien.
The shooting occurred June 14, according to WPLG Local 10. Miami police responded to 675 SW Third St. at about 11:11 p.m. after a teen was reported shot. Officers found a small amount of the victim's blood in the roadway near that address and three spent 9 mm casings near 660 SW Third St. An officer applied a tourniquet to the victim's left leg before Miami Fire Rescue took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.
Masked Suspects Approached Near the Park
According to the station's account, surveillance video showed Centena and another masked suspect moving toward two victims and two girls near Riverside Park at about 10:58 p.m. One suspect was carrying a handgun with a green laser, and the victim told investigators he heard about four shots.
The victim was affiliated with the Little Havana Taliban, also known as LHT, and told police he believed Centena was associated with a rival gang known as APK, per the same account. After the shooting, Centena and the other suspect fled the scene.
What the available records show
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, county arrest files report arrests as adults and juveniles, and classify weapons violations among Part 2 offenses in the Uniform Crime Reports. The information cited here does not include Miami-Dade counts for recent years, so it does not establish how frequently juveniles were arrested or referred for firearm-related offenses or show a clear trend.
A separate case illustrates that adult prosecution has also arisen in other Miami-Dade shooting investigations. The Miami Herald reported that 17-year-old Jencarlos Gamez was charged as an adult after an alleged July 19 shooting at Berry Farms on Southwest 216th Street; unlike the Riverside Park case, no one was shot.
Witness Accounts and a Photo Lineup
A witness told investigators that the two masked males ran toward an apartment, removed guns from their waistbands and fired. The witness also reported that the other suspect's hand was bleeding, and that Centena asked whether cameras were nearby before the group left in a white SUV.
Investigators accuse Centena of threatening a second victim in Spanish after pointing a gun at him and later saying, “I hit him with the bullet.” A witness subsequently identified Centena in a sequential photo lineup.
Booking and Case Status
Centena, who is from Miami and is a Nicaraguan national, was booked into the Metrowest Detention Center on September 18. As of Tuesday, he remained jailed, and bond had not yet been set. Miami-Dade's court system offers online tools for tracking criminal case activity, including a Criminal Justice Online Case Search for felony and misdemeanor cases, although no case number tied to this prosecution was available.
