The family of a 17-year-old shot in the head Monday afternoon in Liberty City recounted the horrific moments before the gunshots rang out as they waited for word at the hospital.
“Please don’t shoot me. Please don’t shoot me,” the mother of James "Jarvis" Taylor overheard her son tell the gunman seconds before the trigger was pulled.
Jarvis’ sister, Tanika Green, heard it too. When she ran to the door, she stood face to face with that gunman and watched in horror as he opened fire.
The bullets hit not only her beloved brother but also pierced the front door screen and hit 1-year-old Janaisha Hudson in the foot.
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Incredibly, both are doing OK at Ryder Trauma Center, the family says. But it’s a moment Green will never forget.
"I heard him saying 'no, no, no, don't do it because my mom's in the house.' So I jumped off the couch. And when I got to the door, I seen a boy with the gun, pointing at him and shooting," she recalled. "Yes, it was very devastating, it was shocking. I was very shocked about it, I didn’t know what to do, I didn't know how to react to it."
Miami police know who the shooter is, according to the family. But police are not confirming that. They continue to seek information from the crowd of people who witnessed the daytime shooting.
They consider the suspect very dangerous, says Miami police spokesperson Delrish Moss.
"As long as this person's out there, he doesn't care about shooting in front of children, he doesn't care about shooting in front of a crowd, he doesn't care about shooting in broad daylight," Moss said. "He is not a guy that you want on the street."
Meantime, the crime spree continues in this Liberty City government subsidized housing neighborhood so desperate for peace and so unable to find it.
“We are here to pray with them, to be a support mechanism for them,” said pastor Gaston Smith, who’d come to the scene at the request of police and held an impromptu prayer circle with friends and family. “There are some good people who live in this community."
Sherdavia Jenkins, the little girl killed by crossfire four years ago and became a lightning rod for peace, lived just doors away. Her father, David Jenkins, still fights for peace.
“This neighborhood is near and dear to me,” he said. “The violence that happens here, I wish I could just snap a finger and make it go away. But the best I can do is come and offer my support to the families. That's all I can do."
