Miami’s Garden back open

INDIANAPOLIS – A northwest side restaurant is back open after multiple people were stabbed in the parking lot two weeks ago. The owner says they’ve increased their security significantly, but the business is struggling.

“I was speechless because I know when people get drunk, things happen but never in my wildest thought would I have imagined it would get that bloody,” a Miami’s Garden manager, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

The restaurant had already closed for the night when violence erupted outside on June 17.

“The night was successful, everything went well, we were closed,” owner Motunrayo Akinfela recalled. “For me, hearing the news of what happened the following morning, I was so down. I was disturbed.”

The owner of Miami’s Garden says the place used to hit full capacity on weekends, but only a fraction of those crowds showed up this past weekend when they reopened for the first time since the stabbing. It had been temporarily shut down by the Pike Township Fire Department for unrelated code violations that have since been resolved.

“Maybe with time. I hope things get better,” Akinfela said.

She wants customers to feel safe again. Miami’s Garden has switched to a new, twice-as-expensive security company with more thorough pat-downs, parking lot patrols and armed guards.

“We’ve put all our effort and energy, money – going extra miles to make things better, especially when it comes to security, making sure they are safe,” Akinfela said.

The restaurant is listed in a handful of police reports from the past year and a half regarding disturbances, even shots fired calls – including one incident from February 2023 where eight cars in the parking lot were shot up by someone driving down a nearby street.

“According to what we heard on the street, they said somebody brought in his girlfriend to the club,” Akinfela said. “He started spraying all the cars. My car was affected too, he shot at my car too.”

As for the stabbing, 27-year-old Estinfil Filsmagre was among the nine injured and now faces attempted murder and aggravated battery charges for his role.

“My sympathy goes out to the patrons that got stabbed,” the anonymous manager added. “We visited some of them, they’re all in good conditions. We hope and pray things like this never happen again.”

At the time of Filsmagre’s arrest, IMPD said the investigation was ongoing to determine whether any others would face charges related to the incident. When asked whether that is still the case today, IMPD said there are no updates to share.