The parents of a couple gunned down during an apparent carjacking are pleading with the public to come forward with information on the killers.
Julian Soler, 23, and his girlfriend 24-year-old Kennia Duran, were shot and killed at the Mobile Mart in the 16000 block of Northwest 57th Avenue Monday. Surveillance cameras recorded the violent attack and provided images that won't soon be forgotten by the couple's family and friends.
"Every time I see it, I don't understand why. He didn't put up a struggle and was still killed," said Janine Diaz, Soler's mother. "They were good kids and they didn't deserve this."
Friends and family gathered outside a Miami Gardens gas station Monday night to hold a vigil for the couple.
Tuesday, the memorial turned into a plea for help.
"Today it was us. If you don't come forward, tomorrow it could be you or your children," said Jacqueline Serra, Duran's mother. "I had to identify my daughter and I don't want anyone to have to go through that. There is so much killing and it needs to stop."
Police think the murder happened because of Soler's prized Ford Mustang Cobra.
A surveillance video shows Soler, filling up his car with gas and ready to leave, when a Pathfinder with three or four suspects inside ambush the couple.
The suspects shot and kill Soler at the scene. Duran died at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Police think the suspects were after Soler's sports car, but for some reason, left without taking a thing.
Police say the suspects were seen leaving the area in the Pathfinder, which was later found, but the shooters are still on the run.
Soler's family was heartbroken as they described the car-loving young man.
"Everybody loved him. Everybody that he came in contact with loved him," Diaz said. "He was so sweet, really sweet-natured kid."
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"He put his life and money into that car...I can't believe it, I'm still in shock," said friend and coworker Luis Perez.
Meanwhile, friends and family mourn a young couple who appeared to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Anyone with information of the shootings is asked to call Miami-Dade CrimeStoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
