Another Drive-by, Another Teen Dies in Miami
Police have few leads in finding the gunmen
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A 17-year-old is killed in Logan Square.
She was just sitting under a tree listening to her I-Pod.
Teddy bears and tears from friends marked the spot today at the Annie Coleman Projects in Miami's Brownsville neighborhood where 15-year-old Sabrina O'Neil died last night, the victim of a drive-by shooting.
"She didn't do nothing to nobody, she was just over there at the wrong time in the wrong place," said Brina Bell, the victim's cousin. "They just left here there, nobody tried to help her, and that really hurt me, to my heart, I really miss her."
A friend passed out fliers, urging everyone to attend a candle-light vigil for Sabrina.
"I'm kind of speechless, I just saw her yesterday, so I'm still shook up about it," Kenneth Bailey said.
Miami-Dade Police say someone in a gray Nissan Altima or Maxima fired several rounds into a crowd of young people, hitting four people. Only Sabrina died. Two were taken to the hospital, and one young men ran away after being struck by a bullet. Police are hoping to find him, thinking he might be able to point the way to the killers, but no one's counting on that.
"They ain't gonna say nothing, 'cause they scared, they fear for their life, something might happen," said LaToya Lyons, another of the victim's cousins.
The consensus from friends and family is that Sabrina was an innocent bystander, but as usual in these cases, there's a shortage of witnesses who are willing to tell police what they saw.
"I know people know what happened, but everybody acting clueless like they don't know what's going on," Bell said.
That's the sad reality detectives have to deal with. It's hard to break through the "don't snitch" mentality, even when a teenage girl is killed for no reason. Meanwhile, whoever murdered Sabrina O'Neil is still out there, driving the streets, heavily armed.
Posted Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 7:05 PM EST
