WSVN — Imagine being hunted, scrambling to avoid a grown man trying to hunt you down. It happened to a young teenager who ran and ran till eight shots rang out and started slamming into him.
Detective Stefano Brajdic: "My thought was, who would want to kill a child? I mean, he was barely 5 feet 2 inches, 100 pounds sopping wet. He was a child, why?"
5 foot 2, 100 pounds, 14-year-old Deandre Anderson an eighth grader at Alapattah Middle School.
Yevette Anderson: "Deandre was a spontaneous young boy."
Deandre's family says he was no saint, but he was no devil either.
Yevette Anderson: "He had his problems like all kids, but he was a good boy. He was a good boy. He doesn't deserve to be just shot down on the streets."
But Deandre was gunned down after he and a friend spotted a stolen car that had been left the keys in it. 14-year-old Deandre started driving and within minutes, had side swiped a silver Ford Thunderbird.
Detective Stefano Brajdic: "When he struck the car, the side view mirrors hit on both vehicles causing some damage at that point the victim realized what he had done and took off."
The driver chased Deandre and a 15-year-old friend till their car broke down. As they jumped out to flee, the driver of the silver Thunderbird pulled up like a hunter zeroing in on his prey.
Detective Stefano Brajdic: "The driver of the Thunderbird rolled his window down, put a semi-automatic handgun out the window and fired eight rounds."
A young boy, shot by a furious coward hiding in a car.
Yevette Anderson: "Striking him in the back, and the hand and the leg, and he died on the back patio in someone's yard."
7 News was there within minutes by, then Deandre was already dead.
Yevette Anderson: "Actually, I saw it on Channel 7 but unaware that it was my nephew."
Yvette would soon find out the body under that yellow tarp was Deandre.
Yevette Anderson: "It seemed like the world just came in on me because you hear it every day, but you don't expect it to happen to you."
As detectives went to work, they realized Deandre shouldn't have been driving the car, but…
Detective Stefano Brajdic: "But that doesn't warrant what this individual did to him and I don't believe that the shooter knew that the car was stolen had nothing to do with the auto theft. It was sticky a road rage type thing."
Patrick Fraser: "Road rage from a truly crazed killer. A killer in a silver Thunderbird with purplish tinted windows and a damaged mirror. Odds are, the driver took it to a body shop. Detectives hope this story sparks someone's memory and gets this killer off the street because if he killed a young boy over a dented mirror last year, something will certainly set him off again."
Detective Stefano Brajdic: "Whoever this individual was, he took his rage out on children so he'll take it out on anybody."
A 14-year-old is dead. A family knows why. Now they want to find out, who?
Yevette Anderson: "My only prayer is that someone come forward and say, I know who did this. We going to help you and that will give us closure. I just want some closure."
Patrick Fraser: "Remember, a late model silver Ford Thunderbird that had a damaged mirror in April of 2008. If you know the person who owned the car, give Miami-Dade Crimestoppers a call. The person may be your friend, but don't upset him or you might be his next victim."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Out for JusticeMIAMI-DADE: 305-598-HELPBROWARD: 954-796-HELP