SOUTH MIAMI, Fla. – The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Homicide Bureau is investigating a shooting in South Miami that left a teenager dead Sunday.
According to police, the shooting was reported just after 5:30 p.m. outside an apartment building at 5944 SW 64th St.
Detective Andre Martin said in a news release Monday that officers arrived at the scene and found a 15-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound.
The teen, identified as Nolan King, was transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where he died.
6 p.m. report:
“In my eyes, he was a good kid,” King’s foster mother, Andrea, told Local 10 News.
“I became his foster mom three years ago,” she said. “He showed me nothing but love -- he showed love for his siblings.”
According to Martin, after the shooting, a “be on the lookout” (BOLO) was issued for a vehicle that was believed to be connected to the shooting.
He said officers from the South Miami Police Department located a vehicle matching the description of the BOLO and tried to conduct a traffic stop on it, but the driver and a passenger fled on foot in the area of South Dixie Highway and Southwest 104th Street.
After a short foot chase, both were taken into custody with assistance from Miami-Dade police, Martin said.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the subjects and victim are known to each other and were together at the incident location when a dispute occurred, and a firearm was produced resulting in shots being fired,” Martin said in the news release.
One neighbor told Local 10 she was told the shooting stemmed from a robbery.
“I heard a big boom go off on the staircase,” Gisele Barrero said. “I went to the last floor and I see the boy slumped over and his homeboy crying, and he was like, ‘Oh, we got robbed, we got robbed.’ And I was just confused.”
As crime scene tape was placed along Southwest 64th Street, another police presence was established near U.S. 1 and Southwest 104th Street, where authorities apprehended two suspects who had fled from the scene.
Martin later identified the subjects as Javari Omarion Jones, 19, and Quinton Lenard Mayo, 18. He said while both are persons of interest in the case, the investigation remains ongoing and no formal murder charges have been filed at this time.
Both young men were arrested, however, on charges of resisting an officer without violence. Jones also faces an additional charge of fleeing and eluding police at high speed.
One of the victim’s neighbors, Pablo Lopez, told Local 10′s Joseph Ojo that he saw the group just before the shooting.
“They were all hanging out with each other,” he said. “All of them were hanging in front of the elevator. When I come home, they all like looked at me crazy and then I went upstairs. Not even two minutes later, ‘pow,’ just one shot and I was like, it got to be those kids downstairs -- it got to be.”
Lopez said he left his apartment and saw the victim.
“He was gasping for air, but I didn’t see any blood,” Lopez said. “I was just telling him to breathe, just breathe. He wasn’t responsive though.”
King’s foster mother told Local 10 that he leaves behind two young siblings.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “I have to explain to a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old that their brother is not coming back.”
According to jail records, Jones was granted a $2,500 bond, while Mayo has not yet appeared in court.
The investigation remains ongoing, and police have not disclosed further details about the case.