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Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
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Exclusive: 2 Victims Shot At Miami Party Speak Out
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Seventeen-year-old Brandon Ware says even though he was struck by two bullets at an Overtown birthday party early Monday, he still did his best to help other victims. The shooting left 12 people injured, including him and one young woman who died.
In a CBS4 Exclusive, Ware says. "Even though I was scared, I wanted to make sure everyone around me was alright."
"I was at the party and it was like fireworks going off all around me," said Ware, as he spoke to CBS4 from his home in Opa-Locka. "I was running and I saw my friend fall on the ground and I tried to pick him up and I was shot in the shoulder and shot in the leg and I fell by the car."
He told CBS4 reporter Peter D'Oench that a cousin took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital. One bullet passed through Ware's right shoulder and another bullet lodged in his right calf. Doctors removed it at JMH.
"I never felt that pain before, so I didn't know what it was. Then I touched the blood and realized I got shot," said Ware. "It was crazy, so crazy. It was like a movie. I've never seen so many guns. I was scared. I didn't know what to think."
Ware told CBS4, "I'm really sad for the people who were wounded as well and those who are still critical, and I feel bad for the girl who lost her life. I know if I was seriously injured, my family would be so upset. It was just a party."
He said he couldn't catch a good look at the gunmen. "It wasn't like just one, two or three gunmen. There were shots being fired everywhere," Ware said. "I wasn't paying attention. I was just trying to get away." Ware urged those with information about the shooting to come forward. "If you know anything about what happened, call and let' 'em know."
Although he is only 17, Ware is leaving for college in the fall. He'll be attending Alabama State, where he hopes to play defensive tackle for the football team. He had played football for American High School. Ware's mother Lakeesha told CBS4 that she was "proud" of her son for trying to help other victims.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones called a news conference to urge the community to work together to stop the violence.
"We must not let children die in vain from the senseless violence," Spence-Jones said. "Whatever it takes, we all need to take responsibility and stop placing the blame."
Earlier Wednesday, in a CBS4 Exclusive, one of the women who was shot when the gunmen fired on the crowd spoke about what happened to her that night.
Trenisha Hodge, 18, said she ran for her life when she heard the gunshots ring out in a parking lot at NE 5th Avenue and 5th Street.
"I don't think I'm going to go to parties anymore," Hodge told CBS4 reporter Peter D'Oench.
Hodge is home from the hospital with bandages on her knees. Hodge fell when a bullet struck in her left knee as she was trying to escape.
"I don't know what happened, I just ran," Hodge recalled, "I was just thinking about my life."
In all twelve people were shot; Michelle Coleman, who was shot in the chest, kidney and liver, died Tuesday morning.
Her mother told CBS4 News her daughter had wanted to become a nurse because she wanted to help other people.
In a CBS4 Exclusive, Coleman's mother, Andresa Prater, said, "I place her in God's hands. She was given to me. I give her back to him. She was my miracle baby. I had her for 21 ½ years. She was a loving child. She was my angel. She did everything I told her to."
"I feel the pain that every parent who has lost a child has felt. I reach out to all those parents and ask for prayers for me and my family," said Prater.
Prater and her daughter Dominique showed CBS4 large photograph of her daughter, with a smile on her face, a photo from her graduation from Miami Central High School.
When we told Prater that Miami-Dade Crimestoppers had received only three tips from the public about this shooting, Prater pleaded for those with information to come forward. "I know somebody knows someone with information about my daughter being shot," said Prater. Somebody knows something. She was so precious to me and I hope justice will be done."
Prater said her daughter had just completed all of the paperwork required to get financial aid from Florida A&M and was planning to go back to school next month.
"That's why she wanted to go to college for that. She loved children. And she loved helping people," Prater said. " Now, my daughter can never accomplish her dreams."
Coleman's sister, Dominique Prater, says Coleman was "such a nice, happy person. People are crazy. This should have never happened. We just want whoever did this to come forward. My sister did nothing. I just want people to talk, please talk."
Miami Police say the victims were shot by three men dressed in black. It happened at 12:45 a.m. at a birthday party in Overtown, several hours after police were called to the party to ask some party goers to turn down some loud music.
Police say the gunmen were targeting one person in particular. He was not shot. He was taken into custody for questioning.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Booker T. Washington football player, Anthony Smith, remained in critical condition at Jackson memorial Hospital. A group of women including his cousin, Mahogany Maitland, gathered outside Jackson Memorial Hospital and exchanged hugs.
"We are all in mourning," said Maitland, "and our heart goes out to the family of Michelle Coleman. Anthony is fighting. But our hearts are heavy. Someone needs to step up and call the police with information."
Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones visited the families of Smith and Coleman at Jackson Memorial Hospital and said it was "very upsetting" to see how the senseless shooting had impacted so many people. She said, "This violence must stop and steps must be taken to help our youngsters find more constructive things they can do."
Police said they had no new leads in the shooting. More than 200 people were at the Overtown block party which was put together for Lawrence Smith's 20th birthday.
Police say they found shells from an AK-47 assault rifle and two 9 millimeter pistols. Miami Police Chief John Timoney and Mayor Manny Diaz renewed their calls for a federal ban on assault rifles.
The area where the shooting occurred was recently listed by NeighborhoodScout.com as the third most dangerous neighborhood in they country based on FBI crime statistics. Click here to read the story.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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