MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police are investigating a domestic shooting that happened early Friday morning and now a mother is grieving the loss of her son.
The shooting was reported in the 11000 block of Southwest 243rd Street, police said.
According to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the police department, a family dispute turned into a shooting.
“Just pop, pop, pop, pop; then they stopped for a little bit and then they kept going,” Eduardo Perez, who lives nearby, told Local 10 News.
Perez said he heard a car drive by before shots were fired down the street from his home.
An 18-year-old man was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in critical condition, but succumbed to his injuries, according to Zabaleta.
Midday report:
An 18-year-old man is dead and a 17-year-old girl is hospitalized after a shooting in southwest Miami-Dade.
The mother of that 18-year-old identified him as Jairo Lara-Garcia. He said he was an aspiring rapper.
“I wish I had gone,” Sandra Monzon said. “I wish it had been me. I wish he would have shot me instead of my son.”
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Monzon is referring to her recently estranged husband, Lara-Garcia’s stepfather.
“He was my son and I trusted this man in my home,” Monzon said. “He was my husband. I had another child with him. I never thought he would do this to my son.”
Monzon said she and her husband had separated days earlier over what she described as ongoing abuse.
He said his son offered to collect the money he was owed at an arranged meeting and drove to the house where his stepfather was staying. Lara-Garcia’s girlfriend joined them.
Police say they got into an argument and it quickly escalated
Lara-Garcia was hit and so was her girlfriend and her car crashed down the street.
Police quickly converged on the area and later arrested the stepfather, who has not been identified.
Lara-Garcia’s 17-year-old girlfriend was transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue in stable condition.
Local 10 News visited the home where the shooting took place.
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“We wish it never happened. That’s all,” said a man who opened the door, apologizing for what happened.
A car apparently connected to the crime was partially covered by a yellow tarp and pushed against a metal gate. Finally, the car was towed.
Those who live nearby say it was an amazing situation.
“I felt unsafe in my neighborhood, to be honest,” Perez said.
Lara-Garcia’s heartbroken mother is now left with questions.
“He took my son,” Monzon said. “My son had many dreams.”
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