MIAMI (WSVN) - The attorney for a 15-year-old boy who was left paralyzed after he was shot by police while fleeing a traffic stop in Northwest Miami-Dade said the teen was shot in the back of his neck while running from officers.
Fifteen-year-old Vito Corleone Venisee remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital, paralyzed from the neck down.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, his attorney, Jarlens Princilis, pointed to the location where, he said, a Miami-Dade Police officer’s bullet pierced his client, early Sunday morning.
“He was running from the police, trying to get away, and he was shot in the back of his neck,” said Princilis.
According to Miami-Dade Police, the shooting happened in the area of Northwest 57th Street and 22nd Avenue, after officers attempted a traffic stop.
Police believe Venisee was behind the wheel of the black Dodge Challenger that officers attempted to pull over.
“Once they activated their lights, the vehicle immediately fled,” said MDPD detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
The Challenger crashed moments later. Everyone inside the car exited and took off running.
However, a police sergeant caught up with Venisee.
“The defendant confronted the subject, the subject was armed, shots were fired,” said Zabaleta.
Police recovered a handgun found on the ground, as well as another gun and an assault rifle located inside the crashed car.
“I did not get the chance to question him about the gun,” said Princilis. “He’s still regaining his memory after the incident.”
The attorney said his client was not driving the Challenger at the time of the attempted traffic stop.
Venisee faces charges of possession of a firearm by a minor and resisting arrest, but police said he was also wanted for firearms possession and burglary at the time of the incident.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has since taken over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Body camera footage will likely play a big role in the probe.
But Princilis said there’s nothing more telling than where the teen was shot.
“It says to me that he was not facing the officer. It says to me that he was trying to get away from the officer,” he said, “and also says to me that it is impossible to attack someone if your back is facing them.”
Venisee was scheduled to appear in children’s court Friday morning. Since he’s still in the hospital, that hearing was rescheduled.
Miami-Dade Police are offering no additional comment, as the investigation is now in the hands of the FDLE.
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