Family searching for answers after 13-year-old killed boy in drive-by shooting
Jakilah Brady is the aunt of Johvan Taylor
By Morgan Rynor, Chelsea Jones
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FLORIDA CITY (WFOR) — A family is searching for answers after a 13-year-old boy died in a shooting over the weekend.
On Monday, winter break came to an end for Miami-Dade public school students as they headed back to their classrooms.
Johvan Taylor, 13, or as friends called him “Woodah,” should have been with them. Instead, his family was planning a funeral.
“Right now the kids are at school grieving, they can’t take it. Parents are being forced to pick their kids up. There are counselors at high schools, middle schools and elementary schools in the surrounding area. The kids are hurt,” said Taylor’s aunt Jakilah Brady.
Taylor’s family said he was eating outside on his father’s porch on Saturday evening with friends when someone drove by and shot at the teens a dozen times. Ring camera video captures several rounds of gunfire being unleashed along Northwest 6th Avenue around 8 p.m.
Taylor was airlifted to Jackson South Trauma where he died, according to Miami-Dade police.
The teen’s family said his younger brother, who is just five years old, just thinks his older brother is missing. They are trying to find a way to explain he’s not coming back.
My nephew is hurting, he’s five years old and he has to now live without a brother. My sister is hurting, she has to live without her firstborn, because of something he had nothing to do with,” said Brady.
Taylor is the nephew of Detroit Lions Wide Receiver and Florida International University graduate Maurice Alexander, CBS News Miami has learned.
Brady said Taylor loved playing football, dirt bikes and his little brother. She said he was also a big foodie. His community came together Sunday night and held a vigil to honor him.
The family said they won’t rest until the person responsible is behind bars.
If anyone has any information regarding the shooting, contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip at CrimeStoppers305.com.
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