MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – It’s been 12 years since a 16-year-old boy was gunned down while riding his bicycle in Miami.
Police are now saying the case has been cracked and a suspect is in custody.
“It was a sad time for this neighborhood,” said resident Karen Person. “It feels so good to know that 12 years later they found this person, it gets me right here. It is a day I will never forget, tragic, a kid shot to death right here under a tree after he was just riding his bicycle on a beautiful Saturday morning to see his friends to do homework.”
6 p.m. report:
Anabel Herrera, the stepmother of victim Bryan Herrera, has been fighting for justice since the tragic morning in December 2012.
“If it could happen at any time this is the perfect time,” she said. “Sunday will be 12 years and every year I have begged God to please let it be this year and finally it was this year.”
Said retired Miami police Chief Jorge Colina: “It was brutal. The family, especially Annabel, was just relentless in their pursuit and their demand for justice.”
Family members said Herrera was a straight-A student.
“Bryan was a great kid, he was a phenomenal student, everybody liked him,” said Colina. “It was a horrific tragedy.”
“He was a great kid, didn’t get into trouble and had friends and family, and everyone loved him,” said Herrera.
Year after year, authorities worked the case.
“The police were so diligent,” said Person. “I don’t know how many times they would come to the house, they would have a flier, they would say we are not forgetting this kid, if you know anything or learn anything to call.”
“I don’t remember how many pleas we (made) to the public,” said Colina. “We knew somebody knew something, but no one ever came forward. It was frustrating, for us, the family.”
All leads had been exhausted until June 24, when an attorney representing a witness to the shooting called the state attorney’s office.
That witness said he saw two people arguing and a physical struggle, and according to an arrest form, “saw the victim silently mouth the words, ‘I’m being robbed’, while simultaneously seeing the Black male had a gun pointed at the victim.”
The witness told police that when he saw the gun, he “decided not to intervene” and then “allowed his car to idle forward…saw the victim attempt to get out of the black male’s grasp when….heard the gunshot.”
An autopsy determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
New court documents state that at the scene, investigators found the victim’s bike, hat, PlayStation portable handheld video game, and a backpack, but no cell phone.
The witness knew the shooter’s neighborhood nicknames, “Peanut” or “Nut” and later shared a federal jail cell with him on separate pending cases.
The witness also told investigators that the gunman lost one of his eyes in an unrelated shooting after this incident.
Investigators said Adrian O’Neal Grimes matched those descriptions. The 30-year-old is now facing a count of first-degree murder, a capital felony, and armed robbery with a firearm, punishable by life behind bars.
“I want to thank the detectives that worked really hard to solve this case and I thank the state attorney’s office as well,” said Herrera. “We put all our trust in the state attorney’s office now and the prosecutor to make sure this guy stays in prison for life.”
Said Colina: “To be at this point, almost 12 years later, almost to the day of the murder, where an arrest is made, is just incredible for that family that was so desperate for justice, it is just such a wonderful Christmas present.”
Grimes’ arrest warrant states Miami police and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office will not offer the witness any benefits in exchange for his cooperation.
“When the police say we really need your help, a lot of times that is not hyperbole,” said Colina. “It is not like a television crime drama where there is a lot of evidence everything and it is just about collecting it, processing it and making an arrest, sometimes we really do need people to say what they saw and this was the perfect example. The arrest would have not happened here if someone finally didn’t step up and provide information.”
One can never be prepared for the loss of a child due to a senseless act of violence. Parents are left with incomprehensible grief and that is magnified when no one is arrested for the crime. All of us who have been involved in this case throughout the years have developed a deep admiration for Anabel and William Herrera have never given up on seeing the arrest of the person who killed their precious son,16-year-old Bryan Herrera, on December 22,2012.
It has taken 12 long years to charge Bryan’s murderer and now his parents will start a new journey as the State Attorney’s Office begins this phase of the criminal justice process. Today stands as a beacon of perseverance, faith, and hope for all those awaiting the day that their child’s killer is known and finally bring some sense of justice to them and their families.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney
Read the full arrest warrant: