WSVN — A young man is shot in Liberty City, in an area where, unfortunately, witnesses often say they didn’t see anything. In this case though, the parents and the detective don’t want to hear “no.” Why? Patrick Fraser has their story in tonight’s Out for Justice.
It’s a tough part of Liberty City, a place where all too often parents grieve over the murder of their child.
Jervar Jackson: “It hurts me. We’ve lost my boy.”
Jervar Jackson is sad, and he’s furious.
Jervar Jackson: “Stop the violence! Stop the killing! Stop the murder! Stop it all!”
His son, Antonio Gardner, nicknamed “Jit,” grew up in the neighborhood wanting to be a chef.
Lisa Gardner: “He would always want to go in the kitchen and cook meals, you know, chicken, rice, vegetables. He loved to cook.”
But outside Lisa’s apartment, trouble was always waiting for Antonio.
Lisa Gardner: “He had bullies in my neighborhood, where I live now. They used to pick on him and bother him every time he was catching the bus to go to school.”
On March 7, 2014, Antonio was again targeted at the Food Meat Market on Northwest 15th Avenue.
Miami Police Detective Daniel Valladares: “He was sitting inside, leaning up against the cooler, just listening to his music on his phone, when the shooter approached the store, entered the store and shot him several times.”
Here is the surveillance video. It’s a young, thin black man wearing a mask. You can see as he comes up to the store and pulls out his gun.
Daniel Valladares: “Mr. Gardner was definitely the intended target. The shooter was definitely told about Mr. Gardner being there because of the way that it went down.”
Clearly, the gunman was after Antonio. After shooting him, he turned and ran away, but what’s not clear is his name and why he did it.
Lisa Gardner: “To this day, I don’t know why somebody would do something like that to somebody. I’ve heard different stories about, it was an issue about a bike. Nobody knows anything.”
Nobody knows, even though Antonio was shot dead in the middle of the afternoon in a busy area with several people around.
Daniel Valladares: “There’s a lot of foot traffic and vehicle traffic on 15th Ave, so I know that somebody was out there and saw something. They might have seen this person afterwards run into a building, run into a home, run into a vehicle.”
A lot of people probably saw the killer, but none of those people have said a word to police.
Daniel Valladares: “I think it’s a mix of people being afraid, of people just not wanting to get involved. They don’t want to get involved until it affects them.”
It certainly affects Lisa, and she says it’s time for people in her neighborhood to quit covering for cold-blooded killers.
Lisa Gardner: “They need to stop being silent, because it doesn’t mean you’re a coward or a snitch. It’s that you’re bringing closure to people’s families so they can move on with their lives.”
Jervar is blunt.
Jervar Jackson: “Stop, stop, stop! What you think you’re getting away with, you’re not getting away with nothing!”
Listen to Jervar. You can help stop it. Look at the video and ask yourself, do you know who this man is?
Lisa Gardner: “Justice needs to be served.”
Jervar Jackson: “This is me speaking to you, every last one of y’all. Me. It hurts.”
If you know anything about the murder of Antonio Gardner, help stop another killing and make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
And if you have lost a loved one and want to remind people you’re still out for justice, give us a call. With this Out for Justice, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT OUT FOR JUSTICE:
Miami-Dade: 305-598-HELP (4357)
Broward: 954-796-HELP (4357)