Mother Of Murdered 10-Year Old Asks For Public's Help To Find The Killer
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Friends and relatives have been stopping by the home of a Miami boy, who was shot while playing in front of his home on Monday.
Those who stop by have been offering their condolences to the family of little Marlon Eason. As police search for the killer, the boy's mother recalled her final moments with her son.
"I jumped on my baby and I tried to save my baby and I asked my baby did he need a band-aid. And my baby couldn't even talk to me. That was something you couldn't put a band-aid on," said the child's mother Liz Ruffin. "I told him talk to me. I said, talk to me, talk to me. I told my baby don't go. Don't go talk to me."
Meantime, Eason's family is outraged and demanding justice.
"You all killed my baby. You all don't know what you did to me. You killed my baby," sobbed an inconsolable Dorothy Ruffin, grandmother of 10-year old Marlon Eason.
"Nothing good will come out of what you have done. He was only 10, only 10. He can't talk no more.
He can't go to school anymore," said Tammy Walker, Marlon's aunt.
Click here to watch Lauren Pastrana's story.
Eason, a fourth grader at the Center of Life Academy, died after he was shot in the head at 1975 NW 4th Court.
"Marlon was a good child, a good child. He was going to a private school," said Ruffin.
Richard Ruffin, Marlon's grandfather, said several of his family members were in front of the home when the gunfire erupted and his nephew, who they nicknamed Merv, was fatally wounded.
"He was playing basketball last night, I had a three-month old baby in my hands and had a five-year old grandchild and Merv," said Dorothy Ruffin.
Dorothy Ruffin said she told Marlon to 'run' when she heard the shots.
"I said run Merv run, run Merv, baby for me," said Ruffin.
"Like five to six shots then I heard my mom and aunt screaming," said Richard Ruffin. "This was an innocent 10-year old child trying to run to safety and he caught a bullet in the head."
"I said get up Merv. Get up. He was lying there bleeding," recalled Dorothy Ruffin.
The boy was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died.
"It's not right. We got to get the cockroaches. This has got to stop right now. He was 10 years old, 10 years old," said Dorothy Ruffin.
"Turn yourself in. Nothing good will come out of it. Please, you all have broken our hearts," said Walker. "It's just senseless. They keep killing kids, killing kids. What is this world coming to when kids keep killing kids?"
Amidst tears and prayers, local Pastor Willie Williams urged parents to step up to help stop the violence in the community.
"We have a problem in Overtown. We don't want to see another gunshot happen again," said Williams.
Eason was one of five juveniles injured in a series of shootings hours apart.
Meantime, a mother was led off to grieve in private, as she hopes the public will help find her son's killer.
"If anybody knows something please come forward and talk. Please, for Merv. If you don't do it for nobody do it for him, please," said Ruffin.
Anyone with information on the shootings is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
