A Coral Springs man was among eight alleged gang members arrested recently in a sprawling investigation authorities said solved eight homicides and more than a dozen attempted homicides throughout Broward County.
Tyriq Jackson, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Dorothy Smart on Sept. 13, 2023, to further the interests of Jackson’s gang: the Dania Hot Boyz, also known as Grand Mafia, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Prosecutors said Jackson is also charged with unlawful communication to facilitate Smart’s murder and racketeering for his alleged involvement in Dania Hot Boyz crimes committed between June 1, 2020, and Aug. 30, 2024, as well as crimes committed by the gang’s subsidiaries: the Junior Mafia, Go Getters, and Family Forever gangs, the sheriff’s office said.
The gang members’ alleged crimes included homicides, assaults and battery, firearm offenses, and fraud.
Jackson was being held without bond Wednesday at the Broward Main Jail.
The arrests of Dania Hot Boyz leaders and members were the result of months of investigation by BSO’s Gang Investigations Task Force, the Broward State Attorney’s Office, and other law enforcement agencies, whose work resulted in a 33-count indictment of the accused gang members announced Wednesday, officials said.
The law enforcement operation took shape after a 27-year-old Dania Hot Boyz leader, Sigmund Brown, left a traceable fingerprint on a car connected to a Jan. 20, 2024, homicide at the Best Buy in Plantation, investigators said.
Authorities from several agencies said they met in February 2024 to review multiple open homicides, then coordinated an effort to take down the gang’s most violent members. According to BSO, the investigation has solved the killings of:
Wisdom Williams, found fatally shot in September 2021 in Hallandale Beach; Antjuan Dobard, shot and killed in Pembroke Park in April 2023; Vernaldo Donner and Terri McKenzie, shot and killed near I-95 in Fort Lauderdale in May 2023 during a shooting in which authorities said the intended victim was not present; Wayne Smith, fatally shot in July 2023 in Hallandale Beach; Smart, shot and killed in the driveway of her home in Fort Lauderdale in September 2023; Terrance Farrington Jr., shot and killed at Best Buy in Plantation in January 2024; Johnnie Henderson, fatally shot in Miramar in January 2024.
“I applaud the work of the dedicated detectives, the valuable assistance from the State Attorney’s Office, and collaboration with our law enforcement partners to rid Broward County of these heartless, violent criminals whose evil and cruel acts took innocent lives and placed communities in fear,” BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony said Wednesday. “Evildoers should be warned—we will not let up in our relentless effort to keep Broward County safe.”
Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said innocent civilians were among those killed by Dania Hot Boyz members. Illegal firearms were also seized from convicted criminals in the case, Pryor said.
Authorities said the other gang members charged in the case are Brown, of Hollywood; Rajah Rolle, 16, of Tamarac; Kevaris Johnson, 23, of West Park; Gerard Charles, 30, of Hollywood; Vondarious Davis, 29, of Fort Lauderdale; Jared McCabe, 25, of Fort Lauderdale; and Trayvon Key, 27, of Dania Beach.
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