District Court of Appeals affirms life sentence for Kierra Russ in Club Blu shooting

More than two years after a Lehigh Acres woman convicted for her role in the shooting deaths of two at a Fort Myers nightclub eight years ago, the Sixth District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida has affirmed her conviction.

Kierra Russ, 26, was convicted May 3, 2022, of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder following the incident at Club Blue Bar and Grill, in Fort Myers. She was sentenced to life on June 6 of that year.

Her attorney, Douglas Molloy, appealed her life sentence the following day.

Russ insisted during her trial that she had no part in what happened, was not part of a gang and was at the nightclub by invitation to perform. She sent a series of text messages alerting the shooters moments before scores of gunshots rang across the establishment's parking lot.

The early morning shooting at the Fort Myers night club in a plaza on the corner of Evans Avenue and Carrell Road claimed the lives of Ste'fan Strawder, 18, and Sean Archilles, 14. More than 100 bullets flew around them as a teen dance ended at the club; 14 were injured.

Four other defendants, Tajze Akiir Battle, 30, Derrick Leon Church, 27, Demetrius O’Neal, 27, all of Fort Myers; and Dontrill Loggins, 31, of Lehigh Acres, have not had their trial dates set.

Russ, for her part, sobbed, her shoulders heaving as she laid her head on a table as the jury convicted her just over two years ago .

The verdict in Russ' came three days after Assistant State Attorney Anthony W. Kunasek, 55, was found dead at his Eagle Ridge home, in Fort Myers. Kunasek prosecuted the case along with Assistant State Attorney Sara Miller.

At trial, Assistant State Attorney Sara Miller said different altercations between two gangs — "One Way" and the "Bottom Boys" — eventually led to the shooting deaths of Strawder and Archilles.

Russ' jury trial revealed the conflict began with a fight that erupted at Dunbar High School, where Russ was a student.

Evidence presented at trial showed Russ was inside the nightclub the night of the shooting. The hectic scene had people running for cover and ducking to avoid being shot

A text message exchanged between Russ and O'Neal, where Russ indicated she saw a member of the opposing group "wide open" would be sufficient to charge her with the two second-degree murder counts, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, whether she knew the four men would actually carry out those acts, Miller said at trial two years ago.

Russ promised she would "peep" out what cars the "opps" were driving after the party and provided the information to the four men. Shortly after, cars pulled up before shots rang.

Russ was tried separate from Loggins, O'Neal, Church and Battle.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran , Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews .

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: District Court of Appeals affirms life sentence for Kierra Russ in Club Blu shooting