6 OctOber 24-30, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | “THE COPS SHOT MY DAD!” Family of man killed by police on Redland farm files wrongful death suit. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN T he family of a man who was fatally gunned down by Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) of- ficers on his property in the Red- lands in November 2023 is suing the county. Gabriela Cueli filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Miami-Dade County as rep- resentative the estate of her father, Osvaldo Cueli, alleging that the county negligently failed to employ proper procedures for po- lice encounters and the use of force, failed to provide proper training and supervision for officers during citizen encounters, and failed to establish or execute a reasonable review policy for citizen complaints against police officers. “The suit further alleges that the defen- dant covered up the unjustified shooting by manipulating the media by advocating a false narrative that the police officers in- volved in the shooting killed Osvaldo Cueli in self-defense,” the lawsuit states. “The purpose of this false narrative was to avoid civil liability, paint Osvaldo Cueli as the ag- gressor, and similarly avoid potential crimi- nal prosecution of the police officers who killed the decedent.” On November 29, 2023, Cueli, a 59-year- old father of two and grandfather of three, had driven out to the edge of his ten-acre property with a gun in his waistband, believ- ing he’d spotted a trespasser. His family noted that Cueli wasn’t the gun-toting type but was concerned about his family’s safety. “These were his words to my grand- mother: ‘How am I supposed to defend my- self? With a rock? I can’t do anything with a rock.’ She wasn’t comfortable, but obviously, because of what’s happening, she gave it to him,” Gabriela told New Times in an inter- view earlier this year. As Cueli and his teenage son (also named Osvaldo) neared the property line on foot, two pickup trucks with tinted windows ar- rived. The driver of one began firing, fatally striking the elder Cueli. Osvaldo said they had no inkling that the two men wearing jeans and unmarked shirts were police offi- cers. He also claimed the men did not identify themselves before firing, nor did his father point a weapon at them. “They both came really close to the trees, and they blocked us in,” Osvaldo said. “They started shooting from inside the car, and they didn’t have any lights on. They didn’t announce themselves. They didn’t put down the windows, and the windows were blacked out.” Cellphone video Gabriela Cueli recorded soon after the shooting shows her father lying on the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth. One of the officers can be heard say- ing, “We identified ourselves,” and proceed- ing to step over Cueli’s inert form. “That’s my dad!” Gabriela yells in the video. “That’s my dad. The cops shot my dad!” The autopsy report indicated that Cueli died from gunshot wounds to his torso and right arm. Gabriela said she believed the officers left her father to die. “Their main con- cern was to get me and my brother out of the property and onto the road away from my dad,” she told New Times.” They weren’t trying to help him. They had all of us detained for various hours along the road.” In the immediate aftermath of the inci- dent, MDPD officers released scant details about the shooting. The department main- tained that the officers were part of a unit that investigated illegal dumping and were responding to the possible sighting of a stolen vehicle when Cueli brandished a weapon at them, a version of events the family vehe- mently disputes. “My dad wasn’t violent,” Gabriela told New Times. “He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was simply protecting his prop- erty, and they showed up and killed him.” Nearly a year after Cueli’s death, the fam- ily is still awaiting the results of a Florida De- partment of Law Enforcement investigation into the shooting. They say their questions remain unanswered — including why police officers shot her father. “Our family’s hearts were broken, and our lives were shattered by the killing of our fa- ther, Osvaldo Cueli, by Miami-Dade police of- ficers when they shot him in his own driveway,” Gabriela tells New Times. “We do not understand why, 11 months later, we are still waiting for the results of the so-called in- vestigation.” Gabriela has had a difficult year since Cueli’s death, unable to escape the memory of seeing her dad’s motionless body covered in blood. “When it comes to my dad personally, like, I remember our happy moments,” she says. “But when I remember him specifi- cally — like if I were to picture him in my mind — the only image I see is my dad’s eyes rolling over and being face-to-face with him. And that’s literally what I have, what I hold on to.” [email protected] Gabriela Cueli and her father, Osvaldo Cueli Photo by Gabriela Cueli | METRO | “MY DAD WASN’T VIOLENT. HE WAS SIMPLY PROTECTING HIS PROPERTY, AND THEY SHOWED UP AND KILLED HIM.”
