MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – In light of the 17th anniversary of the murder of then-23-year-old Luis Leon Jr., authorities, community members and loved ones continue to seek justice.
During an interview with Local 10 News Wednesday, Tracy Brown recounted the fateful night her son was struck by gunfire in the back.
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. on April 17, 2007.
The neighborhood off Southwest 268th Street, once known as “Villages of Naranja,” now bears the name Malibu Gardens, yet memories of that night remain etched in time.
As more time passes, Brown continues to plead for empathy. Seventeen years of agony, she still asks, “Who stole my child’s breath?”
“All this time, you should have a heart by now,” she said tearfully in a message to her son’s killer. “You should feel some kind of way by now. The guilt ought to set in (and) ought to be able to tell me who killed my child.”
Detectives recall the chaotic aftermath, where they said they saw at least one person run away from the scene just moments after the shooting.
Authorities believe two to three people were involved in the incident.
On Wednesday, police returned to that same neighborhood with flyers in hand, alongside the bereaved, seeking resolution in the stagnant waters of a cold case.
“People do reach out to us, sometimes 20, 30, 40 years later and it does allow us to investigate that case in a whole different way than the detectives had back then,” said Miami-Dade Detective Jonathan Grossman.
“It’s just a hard pill to swallow,” said Ida Brown, the grandmother of Leon. “You never get over it, but you learn to live with it. It hurts every day.”
“Now I have to deal with this for the rest of my life,” said Tracy Brown.
Detectives are urging anyone who has information on the case to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.