A 12-year-old boy died after he was hit by a drag racing car, Miami Gardens Police said Friday.
Witnesses said they saw two cars drag racing heading northbound on Northwest 29th Avenue on Thursday, and a car struck the boy in the area of 15231 NW 29th Ave. and fled the scene, police said.
The victim, identified by his brother as Nick Murrell, was airlifted to the hospital.
Miami Gardens Police spokesman Mike Wright said the boy had died.
"They should have at least stopped and tried to help," said his older brother Aaron Murrell, 13.
"I wish the people just turned themselves in cause they know what they did was wrong," said Aaron Murrell.
Police were looking for either a black Lexus or Mustang and a red vehicle, but had no description for the latter. A $3,000 reward was being offered in connection to the case.
Witnesses said the cars were drag racing while kids were playing football in a yard. One kid threw the football in the street and Nick Murrell went to retrieve it. He was able to dodge the black car but was not able to get out of the red car's way.
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Nick Murrell flew in the air after he was struck, and landed a couple of feet away from where he was playing, witnesses said.
"The red car came out of nowhere and just hit him and he was in the air tumbling and then he landed on the ground," said one of his friends, Tyrone Maxwell.
Nick Murrell does not live in the neighborhood, but goes there often to play with his friends, according to neighbors.
“It just looked like he was unconscious. The car hit him and kept going,” witness Lizzie Sands said. “Never even slowed down, never stopped. We just need some speed bumps on this street. This is (the) second child that got hit on this street.”
Maxwell said he got a look at one person in the car.
"The passenger just covered their eyes 'cause they knew they hit the car but they just kept on going," he said.
Witnesses told police the two cars were racing.
"My grandson was a beautiful boy and growing up, he loved everybody. He loved school," said his guardian Mary Mathis.
Thought she wasn't his biological grandmother, Mathis was raising him as her own, and was distraught after she learned he had died at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
"Imagine somebody racing, coming by like their crazy in their car and hit him and keep driving, like he's an animal or something, you what I mean?" she said.
"He was a goofy kid, but at the same time, he was good company. He would help you through things that were pretty hard," Aaron Murrell said.
Authorities urge anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
