Grieving Mother Speaks Out On 18-Year-Old Son's Killing In Opa-Locka
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A grieving Miami mother is speaking for the first time after her 18-year-old son is gunned down Friday night in a drive-by in Opa-locka.
She said that she and her husband needed help with this troubling case and they told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that she hoped their words would help curb the violence after a half dozen incidents since last Friday in Miami-Dade, nearly all of them shootings.
Isaiah Balbona was shot and killed at N.W. 32ND Ave. and 131st St.
His Mother Lourdes said, "Isaiah was a funny and vibrant young man and he was always laughing and joking. He just put a smile on everyone's face. We are going to miss that. It feels unreal like I am in a dream and I am just waiting to wake up out of this nightmare."
She told D'Oench, "I have no idea what motivated this. We feel like he was just ambushed. They just weren't given a chance."
"If anyone knows anything we ask them please come forward," she said. "We ask them please come forward and give whatever information that they have. They may feel the information is too small. But please call. That could lead to something."
Isaiah's father Free, who is a youth pastor, said more than a dozen candles will stay outside the family's home in his son's honor.
"I know I will never see many son again and that tears me up what my wife said," he said. "My son may not have been perfect but he was many son."
He made a special plea on New Year's Eve.
"I am asking others do not retaliate," he said. "Do not take an eye for an eye. That is not the answer. If you do that the cycle continues. I know how this younger generation sometimes reacts. They want someone else to feel the pain. But that is not the answer."
Police around South Florida are investigating a rash of incidents.
On Sunday night, a man in his mid-20s was shot in Little Havana. Also on Sunday night, a woman was stabbed during a violent fight at N.W. 15th Ave. and 61st St.
On Friday night at N.W. 15th Ave. and 70th St., two people were shot in Liberty City just blocks away from a deadly shooting Friday morning in which two people were killed and another person injured at an apartment building on N.W. 8th Ave. at 70th St.
On Monday afternoon, a 20-year-old Miami Gardens man was shot outside a home at N.W. 44th Ave. and 200th St. The injuries were not life-threatening and police are looking for a dark-colored SUV with a known number of subjects inside it.
Eric Hernandez showed CBS4 how one bullet went through his kitchen window.
"It was scary," he said. "This was very scary. I am still shaking right now. This has never happened before in my 24 years here."
Officer Nelly Joseph said, "This is why we need the community to come together and help and give us the information we need that can solve this case."
Anyone with information in the shooting of Isaiah Balbona should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
There is a reward of up to $3,000.
Balbona's family has started a gofundme page to help with funeral expenses.
If you would like to help, you can do so by visiting the link.
