For Ronald Page the pain is never far away – even on the day he fulfilled his brother’s dream by graduating from the police academy.
It has been nearly seven years since Evan Antwan Page, 17, was killed at a Checkers drive-thru when he wouldn't give in to a man carrying a gun who was trying to rob him.
“When this killing happened even his teacher came from Carol City (High) School crying,” his grandmother recalled Thursday.
She called it senseless – the murder of a promising high school student who was in the Police Explorers and JROTC programs and who wanted to be a police officer.
Years later that dream was realized Thursday afternoon, in a way.
“I decided at least for the short term, live out his dream and become a police officer,” Ronald Page said.
He graduated from the Miami Police Department's training academy, deciding that for now that is the way for him to help his community and honor his brother.
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“I wanted to go into law enforcement because my brother wanted to be a police officer. He wanted to start out local and then branch off to the federal level, but unfortunately he didn't get a chance to do that,” Page said.
Police say the person who killed Antwan Page was a black male in his late teens or early 20's.
The only person alive who saw him was Page's friend who was a passenger in the car.
The years have passed with no leads. On Thursday, Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers raised its reward in the case to $5,000. Anyone with information is asked to call 305-471-TIPS.
“I didn't become a law enforcement officer to hunt him down. That’s not why I did it,” Ronald Page said. “I became a law enforcement officer so that no one else has to go through that pain and agony that I’ve been through.”
