Teen shot, killed at South Miami apartment complex remembered as "good kid"
MIAMI - Family and friends are mourning the loss of 15-year-old Nolan King who died Sunday night after being shot at a South Miami apartment complex.
Miami-Dade Police say two young men, who knew King, were arrested and are in custody in connection to the shooting: 18-year-old Leonard Mayo and 19-year-old Javari Jones.
CBS News Miami spoke by telephone with the victim's aunt, Trenda King.
"He was a great kid," she said. "He was a good kid. It is a sad situation to lose an innocent."
She fought back tears as she said "I love my nieces and my nephews and they mean the world to me."
Trend King also had a message for the shooters: "I want them to be punished. He did not deserve this."
Gizzel Borrero, who lives in the apartment building, told CBS News MIami that the shooting happened on the first-floor staircase.
"I heard a big boom from the staircase and I came out to see what was going on," Borrero said. "When I went there I saw a boy slumped over and a boy crying. He said 'we got robbed. We got robbed.' And I was confused. I said robbed of what? Then later I went outside and saw his mom with police and she was not doing well. She was devastated. I cried all night. This really bothered me. He was good gentleman and I never saw any problems with him."
A friend of King's family, who also described him as a "good kid," said the victim had only lived in the complex for about four months and had attended a public school nearby. A police source said King lived in an apartment with his foster mother.
"It's sad to hear that the 15-year-old was killed," neighbor Ephraim Ohazurike said. "For me it's scary, I'm kind of worried that if could have been me, it could have been anybody. I don't understand the circumstances leading to the killing."
According to Miami-Dade Police investigators, South Miami Police received a call about a shooting shortly after 5:30 p.m. near 5944 SW 64 Street.
Arriving officers found King who had been shot. He was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital where he died.
An alert was put on the police radio to "be on the lookout" for a white sedan that may have been connected to the shooting.
Once officers found the car, they tried to conduct a traffic stop but it immediately fled, and a chase ensued.
It ended at a Target off Dixie Highway and 10th Street, where the two men got out of the car and ran away. Miami-Dade and South Miami police officers ran after them and took them into custody.
The preliminary investigation revealed that King and the two young men knew each other, and they were together at the apartment complex before the shooting occurred. At some point, a dispute between the three led to one of them pulling out a gun and shots were fired. King was struck.
Miami-Dade Police Detective Andre Martin called the shooting "tragic," especially with it happening so close to the holiday season.
"There's no reason -- no great reason -- to take anyone's life," he said. "So, it's extremely tragic."
