Miami boy, 12, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and shot before being left to die, victim walked to store to call 911
MIAMI, FLORIDA: Police are reportedly searching for a person who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy before shooting him in the early hours of Saturday, March 27. As per local news reports, the minor was walking on the street around 2 am or 3 am on Saturday, March 27, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Northwest Miami-Dade County, when the incident took place.
A man reportedly pulled up, forced the boy into a vehicle, sexually assaulted him, shot him, and then forced him out of the vehicle, as per the police. The victim then walked to a nearby convenience store to call for help.
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Surveillance video shows the unnamed boy walk up to the corner of Northwest 32nd Avenue and Northwest 47th Street where he can be seen collapsing, bleeding from the head. A customer standing next to him can be seen calling 911. A different bystander also brought the boy a towel and a bottle of water while they waited for law enforcement to arrive.
He was eventually taken by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, who rushed him to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where at last check, he was in critical condition. Police have described the suspect as a tall Hispanic man with long curly hair, between the ages of 30 and 40 years old. He was driving a black sedan and was last seen in the area of Northwest 45th Street and 31st Avenue.
A man who only identified himself as "Johnny" spoke to the news and said that he was on his bike when he heard the boy screaming for help. “He was screaming, ‘Help someone, help me, please.’" Johnny, who didn’t have a phone, escorted the boy to the Foodland Market at Northwest 47th Street and 37th Avenue. “I bring him to the store so they can call the police for him,” Johnny said. “He was conscious, then he fell on the sidewalk and said he had been shot.”
From January to March in 2021, the Miami-Dade police department has recorded more than 160 Forcible Sex Offenses that include rape and fondling. While this, compared to the same duration in 2020, fell by 4.57 percent, the numbers for homicide showed a rise. With a more than 21 percent increase, there have been at least 28 reported incidents of homicide in Miami from January to March of 2021.
In 2018, Children's Advocacy centers in Florida helped over 34,000 children who were victims of child abuse or neglect. As per the group’s statistics, 60 percent of the victims were female and 40 percent were male. Thirty-six percent of the victims were between the ages of zero and six. Anyone with information is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. To report child abuse, one can call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child and 1-800-422-4453.