Family Of Murdered Iraq War Veteran Pleads For Help In Unsolved Homicide
MIAMI (CBS4) -- Twenty-eight-year-old Yosbel Millares survived a dangerous tour of duty in Iraq. But the former U.S. Marine would not survive a shooting on the streets of Miami when he was closing up a store.
Now, four and a half years after his murder, his loved ones are asking for help in solving this crime.
"We were really close," said his sister Magnolia Millares. "He was my youngest brother and he was such a great person. He was very humble."
He took pride in becoming a Marine.
"He went in to the military to go to school," said his sister. "While being there he wanted to become a chef. After that, he came back to Miami and started working for this phone company. He had a lot of friends."
His mother worried about his safety as a nighttime manager at the Metro PCS cell phone store at 36th Street and Northwest 17th Avenue.
"He would tell his mother that nothing ever happened there because everyone loves me there," said his sister.
But life changed suddenly around 5:30 p.m. on the night of October 28th, 2007, as Millares was closing up the store and pulling down the metal awning that protected it at night.
Miami Police homicide detective Rick Martinez said two armed men ran up to him and first fired a shot in the air to surprise him.
"They asked him for money," said Martinez. "Yosbel threw the money bag on the floor in front of the guys that were robbing him, For some unknown reason, he was shot. He was shot in the torso area. He collapsed right there."
The suspects fled. Detective Martinez said there is only a sketchy description of them. There is some surveillance tape. It shows the two employees who were with Millares fleeing from the scene. A key camera that might have shown the suspects had been struck by lightning before the crime and was disabled.
"I remember thinking this is not happening," said an emotional Magnolia Millares. "I would never think something like this would happen."
"It changed all of our lives," she said. "My family has never been the same. My mother has never smiled or been the same. I would give my whole life to have him back and since we can't have him back, all we want is justice."
"I think that's what made it worse," said Claudia Velazquez. "He was not just my boyfriend. He was the father of our child. We met when I was just 12 years old."
Detectives say there were few witnesses because this happened around dusk on a Sunday when few people were around near the store. If you can help solve this case, call Miami Police Detectives Rick Martinez or Eunice Cooper at (305) 603-6350 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
The full story of Yosbel Millares will be featured in an upcoming episode of "Crime Stoppers Miami" on CBS4's sister station, MyTV33.
