CBS4 Exclusive: Police Seek New Car In Deadly Shooting Of Teen
MIAMI (CBSMIAMI) -- CBS4 has learned of new developments in the case of a 17-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a stray bullet during a drive-by in March at a Northwest Miami-Dade park.
Miami-Dade Police say they now know the type of car the suspects were in and they also have a partial Florida license tag.
Police are circulating flyers seeking information about the suspect's getaway car and the flyers show a vehicle similar to the one they are looking for.
It's a red or burgundy 2013 or 2014 Hyundai Sonata with four doors and dark tinted windows. For the first time, police are saying it has a partial Florida tag of: 9-V-7. Detectives believe it may be a rental car. It's not known who rented it---if it was rented by someone with a fake id or rented by someone who was helping the shooters.
The new images of the getaway car are also seen on a Miami-Dade Police box truck.
There's a $10,000 reward in this case.
Miami-Dade Police detectives and the loved ones of the victim---Keimouria Gardner---tell CBS4's Peter D'Oench that they hope the new information will help them solve this troubling case.
"I forgive them. I really forgive them and even if they do decide to turn themselves in, I don't wish them any harm," said Gardner's mother Skymeter Roberts in an exclusive interview with D'Oench.
She agreed to come to Soar Park at N.W. 83rd St. and N.W. 1st Ave. for the first time since her daughter was shot during the evening of March 19th because of the new developments.
"And for me to come out here for the first time," she said, "the little cousin told me where she was at and where she was sitting, well, looking over there, it's just hard. I want to walk over there but I know she's ok. I know she's in a better place. This has been a very unhappy situation for my family and friends."
"Keimouria was a beautiful young lady," she said. "She wanted a lot in life. She wanted to be her own person. I would like to thank everyone for their support. But for these little kids, to see her gunned down like this, it was crazy."
Gardner was sitting on a park bench at 6:30 p.m. on March 19th and watching her cousins play when suddenly, as we saw in a Crime Stoppers re-enactment, the gunmen drove up and started shooting. Two other 22-year-old men were wounded. Herchel Belizaire also died after being shot in the back.
Police say Willie Williamson, who was shot in the leg, may have been the only one who was being targeted.
"There may have been a case of mistaken identity in this," said Miami-Dade Police detective David Gracia.
"So we have a 17-year old girl who was an innocent victim and a 22-year-old man who may have been an innocent victim as well," said Gracia,
who said he and his team of investigators have scoured Soar Park and the area nearly 20 times since the shooting, speaking with neighbors and witnesses.
"The problem with this case is that these guys shot into the park that was filled with over 100 people, mostly children," he said. "We need to get these guys off the street before they do it again."
Gardner's mother and cousin Kenyonna Marion and step-mother Regina Gardner met with Detective Gracia and detectives at Soar Park on Wednesday.
"It still hurts that my cousin has died and no one has come forward about everything that was going on," said Marion. "I wish someone would come forward and say something because this was our loved one and it's not fair that we have to bury someone who was so young."
Anyone with information should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or 1 (866) 471-8477.
You can also visit www.crimestoppersmiami.com and select "Give a Tip."
You can also send a text message to 274637. Enter CSMD followed by the tip information and press send.
Click here for Peter D'Oench's report.
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