MIAMI – On social media, Nakeil Antwan Jackson, 26, said he prayed to God for help to live long enough to see his son finish school. He died Tuesday in a massive drive-by shooting in Miami's Liberty City.
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Jackson's friends said he understood the importance of having an education, and had dreams of going to college, but he never made it. He left behind a criminal record and a social media trail that showed some of his friends were in prison or dead.
"I [have] been out of school for 7 years. Got my high school diploma ‘n still no job, shame on da congress," Jackson posted on Facebook with a picture of a high school diploma. "That's [wh]y we struggle. Better days need to come. TGFAD [Thank God For Another Day]."
The bloodshed happened a block away from Holmes Elementary School, 1175 NW 67th St. Miami police has not made any arrests in the case.
In one social media account, Jackson posted he studied at University of Getting Money and in another he said he worked at Grand Hustle and studied at Street Smart University. He also had photos of himself drinking and smoking what appeared to be marijuana.
Residents and Miami police officers said they knew the violence was linked to ongoing friction among drug dealing crews.
While gangs are organized, street crews are homegrown, often as a means of protection. Crew members are rarely recruited, as they grow up together in the same buildings and develop strong bonds. Nonetheless, they are considered gangs since they engage in criminal activities including narcotics trafficking, robberies and burglaries, a Miami-Dade Police Department Street Gang Unit expert said.
Jackson was loved in the block where he died. While some of his friends -- who posted photos with guns, cash and marijuana on social media -- were not good fathers, he was known for trying to be a good dad, a neighbor said.
Jackson had three kids born out of wedlock in love affairs with two different women. He was proud of being able to buy his boys Polo Ralph Lauren clothing, ties and bow ties, and had big dreams for them.
Jackson was proud of being able to buy them toys. He was also proud of his sneakers, his Michael Kors watch, Versace cologne and Coach purses he had recently bought for the women in his life.
In March, Jackson posted a quote: "We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will." And in the caption he wrote: "R.I.P. to my field ni--az sh-- crazy."
Death caught up to the Miami Heat fan Tuesday. About 2 a.m., two men in an SUV aimed their semi-automatic rifles at Jackson and about a dozen others who were drinking and smoking at a parking lot.
The crime scene was across from the Liberty Square housing complex, also known as Pork ‘N Beans apartments, "Da Hood," Iraq or Pakistan.
Kevin Richardson, 29, of Carol City, died at the scene. He leaves behind a six-year-old son.
Kiara Watts, 17, was shot, treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, and released shortly after.
Watt's friend Jessica Martin, 17, was shot several times -- in the chest, leg and arm. She was smiley and in stable condition Wednesday afternoon. A JMH doctor said she was lucky.
Devon McNeil, 27, was recovering from surgery Wednesday. McNeil talked to Local 10 News' Glenna Milberg from his hospital bed.
Jackson's friend Kenneth Mintz and three males, who did not want to be identified, were also shot. As he struggled with pain, Mintz told family and friends he was thirsty for revenge.
"My chest is killing me. I can't sleep f--k men u pu--y ni---s finally shoot me," Mintz posted on Facebook Wednesday. "I swear I'm going to make it to see y'all face again."
The shooting happened feet away from where children, as young as four-months-old were asleep.
It happened nine blocks away from a drive-by shooting that left two dead and seven injured in 2009, but that authorities were unable to prosecute, because witnesses were too afraid to talk.
It happened three blocks away from the Sherdavia Jenkins Peace Park, a corner on Martin Luther King Boulevard, dedicated to a 9-year-old girl who died in 2006, after a stray bullet pierced through her neck, as she played with a doll named Polly.
A mom in grief collapses in tears Tuesday afternoon near a make-shift memorial at the scene of an early morning shooting in Liberty City that left several dead.