Watch CBS News

Mother Of Police-Slain Man To Meet With Miami's Top Cop

MIAMI (CBS4) -- It has been 10 days since Sheila McNeil's 28-year-old son, Travis, was shot and killed and her 30-year-old nephew Kareem Williams was wounded by Miami Police.

Now she says she may finally get some answers about what happened when she meets with Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito.

CBS4 was there exclusively as Exposito's Executive Assistant, Delrish Moss, was arranging a meeting with McNeil, as Exposito was planning to meet individually and privately with all of the families who have lost relatives in the seven Miami police-involved shootings since July.

"It's been very hard," McNeil said. "Very hard because no parent wants to bury their child; A child is supposed to bury me," she said. "That's the most hurtful part of this situation.

"There are a lot of things I want to know about the death of my son and why did it take so long for him (Exposito) to get into action?"

McNeil said she feels had the chief stepped-in earlier things may have turned out differently.

"Because it was six boys who died before him, and maybe his death could have been prevented if he had stepped in and got his team in order," McNeil told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "That was my young son, my baby. He's gone. But what we can is prevent this from happening to anyone else in this neighborhood, or even this state for that matter."

Travis McNeil and Williams were shot at about 11 p.m. Feb. 10th just two blocks away from the Take One Lounge, at 75th Street and Miami Avenue where they had been enjoying an evening out.

Reports say an unmarked police unit pulled them over. Police have not said why.

Suddenly, police fired shots, killing Travis.

McNeil says her son and nephew were not armed.

Police have not commented publicly about this case, which remains under review by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office. The officer involved in that shooting was identified in a previous CBS4 report as Reynaldo Goyos.

Moss told D'Oench that he was reaching out to all of the families who have lost relatives in the police-involved shootings.

"Basically we are extending an invitation to brief, one-on-one meetings with the chief," he said. "We have spoken to a number of families. The families have been very gracious to me. The chief wants to reach out to them personally; he wants to explain the process and say what he can since these are open investigations."

Some of the previous police shootings happened after officers say they were fired on, but the death of Travis McNeil is less clear cut.

Chief Exposito will meet the families starting as early as Tuesday.

"I just want to find out why did my boy die in the way he did," McNeil said. "I've heard things about my boy having a past record like a lot of boys in this neighborhood do, but nobody deserves to be shot down like that."

McNeil has some pointed questions for Exposito.

"I have lot of questions for the Chief," she said. "One man told me I should bring to his attention a question about dash cams. Why are there no dash cams in these cars?"

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.