Frank Rivera

Frank Rivera, a 30-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was killed alongside his father and brother in a dispute that turned fatal outside their North Miami, Florida, home. The loss was made even more tragic as it was witnessed by Frank’s two young sons, who were just 8 and 10 years old at the time. A relative described Frank, his father Hector Rivera, and his brother Jeremy Rivera as her "beloved father and two brothers" who were "taken away suddenly."

The incident unfolded on the afternoon of November 13, 2023, at an apartment complex on Northeast 5th Avenue. It began as a physical altercation between Hector Rivera and his 33-year-old neighbor, Pierce Nelson Hoempler. The fight escalated, and the two men ended up on the front lawn, with Hoempler on top of Hector, pinning him to the ground. When Jeremy and Frank Rivera saw their father in distress and came to his aid, the confrontation turned deadly.

Hoempler pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and shot all three men. A neighbor’s camera captured the sound of more than a dozen gunshots. According to a police report, none of the Rivera men were armed. Hector sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and Jeremy received one or two; both were pronounced dead at the scene. Frank was also shot once or twice and was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, but he succumbed to his injuries.

Police and fire rescue teams responded quickly, and officers detained Hoempler, who lived two doors down from the victims. He was identified as the shooter by multiple witnesses. While he refused to give a formal statement, police body camera footage captured him saying, "I had no choice, I had no choice... Bruh, I was telling him to 'chill, don't do this, your grandkids are right there.'" Hoempler was arrested and booked into jail.

Initially charged with three counts of second-degree murder, Pierce Hoempler was ordered held without bond. In September 2026, after a trial, a Miami-Dade jury found him guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder charges in the deaths of Hector, Jeremy, and Frank Rivera. In a statement following the verdict, the Miami-Dade State Attorney noted the senselessness of the murders and the unimaginable pain the family endured. As of September 2026, Hoempler, then 36, was awaiting sentencing.