MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The mother of a teenager shot dead Saturday in southwest Miami-Dade County said she believes he was ambushed.
Carlos Sanchez Alonso, 16, is being remembered as a “really, really great kid” as police search for leads on the killing.
Alonso was shot just before 4 p.m. Saturday in the area of Southwest 179th Street and 105th Avenue, police say. Relatives say he was shot five times — twice in the leg and three times in the stomach.
His mother, Lliliam Alonso, said in an interview Wednesday with Local 10 News that he was supposed to go fishing with family members that afternoon but left when he got a phone call from a friend.
Alonso was just a few blocks from home when he was shot.
“They were waiting for him and they shot him five times,” the mother said in Spanish.
Lliliam Alonso says her son was a typical teenager — always daydreaming, kind, and with lots of friends.
Alonso’s older sister Karla Iraheta also shared some details about Alonso on Wednesday.
“He’s more than a brother to me — that’s like my other son — my oldest son,” said Iraheta, who choked back tears while speaking by video chat from Louisiana. “He was very supportive, and someone you could always count on. Like, he would talk to you, give you good advice — he’d make you laugh. ... He was a really, really great kid.”
Alonso was the youngest of three siblings and an uncle to six. The family says Alonso had plans of joining the military.
Iraheta said her brother was supposed to move back in with her in Louisiana next week. He’d lived there for two years, before moving back to South Florida with their mother earlier this year.
“I was just helping her out with my brother,” Iraheta said. “Out here, he was doing amazing. ... He had himself a job, he was doing good stuff.”
Multiple neighbors say the shooting happened behind a home and report seeing a number of people running away from the scene.
Homicide detectives say Alonso died after being taken to Jackson South Medical Center. His mother said she’s grateful hospital staff allowed her to hold her son one last time.
Who shot him, and why? Those are the questions the family and detectives want answers to.
“I’m gonna find out,” Iraheta said. "No matter what, I’m gonna find out who did this to my brother. ... Call the cops, call the police, let them know who that person is so that person can pay for it. ... We just want justice for my brother.”
Alonso’s mother says she has faith that those responsible for her son’s death will be found.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Jessica Alvarez at 305-471-2400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. A reward of up to $3,000 is offered for Crime Stoppers tips that lead to an arrest.