MIAMI (WSVN) - Two juvenile boys are being charged as adults, accused of the 2025 kidnapping and sexual battery of a 12-year-old girl in Miami. Hours after they made their court appearance, the victim’s mother is sharing her pain with 7News.
Thirteen-year-old Nelson Nunez and 12-year-old Josiah Jones were charged Friday with aggravated sexual battery on a minor, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.
Investigators said the victim and the suspects were all neighbors at a Miami apartment complex and knew one another.
Speaking with 7News over the phone on Friday, the mother, who did not want to be identified and was distraught, said the young men accused were well known by the family.
“It’s not like it’s people we didn’t know! They knew me, and I knew them. There were times when I would come home from work, and they would all be outside sitting on the porch. I don’t know what happened that night,” she said.
According to court documents, the 12-year-old girl was approached by the boys, another co-defendant, and an underage witness near the 200 block of Northwest 11th Terrace as she was walking home last June.
That’s when, City of Miami Police said, Nunez and Jones dragged the victim to a nearby community garden, pinned her down by her arms and legs, and filled her mouth with rocks to prevent her screams from being heard.
Detectives said the suspects then removed the young girl’s pants and raped her.
Police say the defendants eventually stopped when they heard the victim’s father calling her name after hearing her continuous screams.
As the father approached, all four people ran away from the scene.
The mother said she and her daughter remain in disbelief all these months later.
“I cry a lot. Every single day, I cry because of it. We cry every day, me and her, we have conversations. We talk about it every day,” she said. “If you came from a woman, then you should have respect for a woman.”
Nunez and Jones stood before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer on Friday morning.
“You’re 12 years old?” Glazer asked Jones.
“Yes, your Honor,” said Jones.
Nunez and Jones are currently held without bond in a special unit for juveniles who are charged with adult crimes.
“It’s a serious matter and complicated,” said Glazer. “You were actually indicted, we have a grand jury indictment charging you with very serious charges, you were actually indicted by a grand jury and transferred from juvenile court to adult court.”
Back at the apartment complex where the juveniles lived, neighbors were left shocked when they heard what had unfolded.
“I was honestly shocked when I heard that happened at all initially, from a child in the neighborhood, and then I was even more shocked when I found out it was a 12-year-old cause he’s literally a child,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.
Since the alleged assault, the victim’s mother said she and her daughter have started a new life away from Miami and are working on moving forward.
“It is what it is. This happened. I just want justice for my daughter, and that’s it,” she said.
Both juveniles are expected to appear in court on Monday and have been ordered to stay at least 500 feet away from the victim at all times.
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