TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Since July, the family of a 7-year-old boy shot and killed on Independence Day has been begging for answers.
Sunday, they came to his memorial along the Courtney Campbell Causeway to demand justice.
“It’s very hard because he was a happy baby,” Torres Garcia’s grandmother Marisol Ayala said in tears.
Who fired the shot that killed 7-year-old Yitzian Torres Garcia and injured his grandfather?
It’s a question police and the child’s family want answered.
“He came for vacation,” Garcia said. “He comes alive, and we have to give him back in a casket to his parents.”
Investigators say the 7-year-old shot during an argument between two groups over the Fourth of July weekend on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
Juan Carlos Hernandez tried to protect his grandson by shielding him, but the child ended up suffering a fatal gunshot wound to the head from a bullet police say went through Hernandez’s hand.
He’s now speaking out, saying whoever did it needs to come forward.
“If he feels that day that he’s a man and he pulled out a gun and starts shooting, just be a man and get in front of the justice and turn yourself in,” Hernandez said. “Be a man.”
Torres Garcia’s family spent Sunday afternoon at his memorial demanding justice for their little boy.
“This is the place the accident happened, we just want people to remember that we’re still looking for justice for the baby,” Ayala said. “This was a person they killed not an animal.”
“We’re just looking for the people to come forward and people to help us,” she continued.
If you know anything that could lead detectives to make an arrest in this case, you can report it anonymously and still be eligible for the reward by calling 1-800-873-tips.
