A North Miami man was found guilty this week of gunning down his neighbor and the man’s two adult sons during a front-yard confrontation in November 2023, with jurors rejecting his claim that he acted in self-defense. Pierce Nelson Hoempler was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Hector Rivera, 57, and his sons Frank Rivera, 37, and Jeremy Rivera, 33.
The killings happened outside 12240 NE 5th Ave in North Miami, according to police, after Hoempler got into an altercation with Hector Rivera at the address on November 13, 2023. As reported by the Miami Herald, Hoempler pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and pinned down Hector Rivera before opening fire, and Frank and Jeremy Rivera each rushed over to try to help their father before they too were shot. Hector Rivera was shot six times, including twice in the head, according to court records cited in the Herald’s report.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Utset argued at trial that the physical evidence undercut Hoempler’s version of events, telling jurors that two of the victims had turned their backs when they were shot and that all three men were unarmed. Both Frank and Jeremy Rivera had gunshot wounds consistent with turning away from Hoempler at the moment they were hit, per the Herald’s account of the evidence presented. Defense attorney Carlos Gonzalez had countered that Hoempler was defending himself during the confrontation, but jurors ultimately rejected that theory.
The 911 Call and the Self-Defense Fight
Hoempler told a 911 dispatcher after the shooting that he had been “rushed” by the Rivera men, a claim the Herald reports he repeated as the foundation of his defense. That same self-defense argument had already failed once before trial, when Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal denied Hoempler’s petition for immunity from prosecution under the state’s Stand Your Ground law in March 2025, according to FindLaw. The appellate ruling upheld a trial judge’s decision following a two-day evidentiary hearing…