CBS4 Exclusive: Grieving Relatives Hold Vigil After Teen Gunned Down
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MIAMI (CBS4) – Grieving relatives held a vigil Thursday night outside the home of a 15-year-old Miami boy who was gunned down Sunday morning outside an apartment building.
"He means a whole lot to me. If you can't tell by looking at me and what I am going through, he meant the world to me because blood is thicker than water. There is nothing like family," said Bernice Stringer as she shed tears for her grandson Richard Williams Jr. who she had raised since he was a year old.
The teen was shot near an apartment building at 840 N.W. 70th St. on Sunday.
He was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital but did not survive.
In an exclusive interview with CBS4's Peter D'Oench, Stringer said that her grandson was a 9th grader at an alternative school, the Stellar Leadership Academy, and had run away from home two weeks ago. She said she had been searching for him ever since.
"As mothers we need to step up and start looking for our kids," said Stringer. "I was looking for my grandson for two weeks. I was always in the area so he could see my van. And even if he was going to hide from me, I thought I might see him walking on the streets with his friends. But I never did."
Stringer, who has 14 grandchildren and has raised all five of one of her daughter's children including Williams, said she spoke with one woman who saw her son.
"That woman could have asked him where is your mother? Where do you live? Nobody cared," she said. "I feel like nobody cared."
Stringer said she begged people to help her find her grandson.
"I told them, 'If you see him, don't approach him because he is on a missing persons list.' But nobody did that. But when he got shot, they came here and told me he got shot."
Stringer said she did not know why her grandson was shot.
She said she was told he was shot once.
"But that's all it takes. Just one bullet," she said.
"These kids these days, when they are so young they get a taste of the street and a taste of the drugs. I don't know what they are thinking," she said. "I am not a street person. I try to keep up with them. I can't watch them 24 hours. Nobody can do that."
Stringer hopes someone will call police or Crime Stoppers with the information they need to solve this case.
"Say something," she said. "Say something. You never know when this is going to happen to you, when someone will come knocking at your door. You will not believe the hurt and the pain and the suffering there is from something like this."
Tonia Malone, who is Williams's aunt, said, "It is just a cruel world out there and people don't care. Just like Bernice said, this needs to stop. This needs to stop. I would hope that someone would forward and say what is happening. You must understand that this could happen to you and your family."
On Thursday night, nearly 20 relatives and friends gathered outside Williams's home and lit candles by some letters on the ground that said "Rest in Peace Pumpkin."
Minister Brian Dennis of the Church of God by Faith asked for help from the community.
"He was just 15 years old," said Dennis. "Somebody must know something."
There will be a viewing for Williams on Friday afternoon at the Lori Hadley Davis funeral home at 2321 NW 62nd St.
Family members say there will be a service for him at noon on Saturday at the Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church at NW 51st St. and NW 17th Ave.
After that, William will be buried at Dade Memorial.
Miami Police said they do not have a description of the shooter or a motive.
They too would like help from the public.
If you can help Miami Police with this case, call them or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
There's a reward of up to $3,000.
