Family pleads for help on "execution" of Miami teen
MIAMI -- The family of a 15-year old killed in what police are calling an"execution" is pleading for the public's help to find the culprit or culprits, reports CBS Miami.
Police in Miami say Alder Hill was riding his bike Saturday when someone grabbed him off of it on the corner, dragged him to a field and shot him multiple times.
Hill's family spoke Thursday at the site where he lost his life.
"This could have been your brother, your nephew or your cousin. Come forward and say something. Stop worrying about stop snitching- because you are helping his mom. His mom lost him," said Hill's aunt, Krystal Mond.
Family members said Alder was a good boy, who had learning disabilities, spoke very softly and loved children. Another aunt, Toi Cato, said Hill didn't deserve his fate.
"He's just starting to live his life. He wasn't even off the porch yet," said Cato.
Miami homicide detectives have been passing out fliers, looking for leads. Police, speaking near the crime scene, say Alder had just left a visit with his cousin nearby and was heading home when he was attacked.
"He was taken off his bike at that corner over there. And I can only imagine the horror he must have felt as he came from that corner to this field," said Sgt. Julio Pino. "This was an execution that occurred here of an innocent 15-year old child."
There was a block party close by when the killing occurred, and detectives believe as many as 50 to 100 people may have seen something related to the crime. As of Thursday morning, investigators had only received one tip.
"We know for a fact, unlike some of the homicides we handle, is this was an innocent child, that his only mistake was riding a bike maybe through a wrong neighborhood," Pino said.
The shooting was one of three that occurred in the area within hours of each other. The first incident was about 3 miles away in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood, one hour before Hill was killed. A man was shot several times and was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Then, as CBS Miami crews were at the scene of Hill's murder in the city's Overtown area, several shots could be heard about five blocks away. The victim there, 21-year-old Jaquan Leonard, died from his wounds.
Police have not determined if the cases are connected.