Family of 7-year-old killed by stray bullet demand justice

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Since July, the family of a seven-year-old boy who was shot dead on Independence Day has been begging for answers.

They came to his memorial at Courtney Campbell Causeway on Sunday to demand justice.

“It’s very difficult because he was a happy baby,” Torres Garcia’s tearful grandmother Marisol Ayala said.

Who fired the shot that killed seven-year-old Yitzian Torres Garcia and injured his grandfather?

The police and the family of the child want to have answered this question.

“He came on vacation,” Garcia said. “He comes alive and we have to return him to his parents in a coffin.”

According to investigators, the seven-year-old was shot dead on the Courtney Campbell Causeway during an argument between two groups over the weekend of July 4th.

Juan Carlos Hernandez tried to protect his grandson by shielding him, but the child ended up receiving a fatal gunshot wound to the head because a bullet, police say, went through Hernandez’s hand.

Now he speaks up and says whoever did it needs to come forward.

“If that day he feels like a man, pulls out a gun, and starts shooting, just be a man, stand up in front of the courts, and turn yourself in,” Hernandez said. “Be a man.”

Torres Garcia’s family spent Sunday afternoon at his memorial demanding justice for their little boy.

“This is where the accident happened. We just want people to remember that we’re still looking for justice for the baby,” Ayala said. “It was a human they killed, not an animal.”

“We’re just looking for people to come forward and help us,” she continued.

If you know something that could prompt investigators to make an arrest in this case, you can report it anonymously and still be eligible for the reward by calling 1-800-873-tips.