A shooting early Friday in Little Haiti killed one man and injured another, according to a witness, and it all began when they were approached by a stranger asking for a drink.
The gunshot occurred in the 100 block of NE 77th Street around 12:52 a.m., according to Miami police. Witness According to Marlon Fernando Castro Martínez, he and four others were discussing when approached by a stranger who appeared to be 16 or 17. “He made a sign like he wanted a drink, but we weren’t drinking beer; we were just talking,” Castro Martínez explained in Spanish. “When we tell him no, he goes crazy and starts chasing us throughout the building, going crazy with the gun in his hand.”
Castro Martínez and two others fled, only to witness a stranger shoot their relative, Robin Fernandez, in cold blood. Ring video shows the men fleeing for their lives and subsequently yelling for someone to call an ambulance. “He fired six shots at him right here,” Castro Martínez explained. “He died immediately, with all of the rounds the suspect fired at his head. The witness stated that when his brother-in-law attempted to flee, he fell and was shot twice. Authorities reported that one of the victims was discovered deceased on the site. “We loved him a lot. “He was a good person, and we will miss him,” Castro Martínez stated.
Police say a second person was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. They have not supplied any additional information on the motive for the gunshots. Authorities are still searching for the culprit, whom Castro Martínez claims he has never seen before. “We all know each other here in the building, and never, never has anything like this ever happened, and we’d never seen that guy,” he said. “This happened out of nowhere, and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
Fernandez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist in repatriating his body to El Salvador. According to the page, he worked in construction and left behind three children. Informers can contact Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
