Family of child shot, killed along Courtney Campbell Causeway hold vigil in Tampa

Family marks two years since boy's death

FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.

TAMPA - It has been two years since seven-year-old Yitzian Torres Garcia was shot and killed along the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

The Family

His grandfather, Juan Carlos Hernandez, tried to cover him from gunfire. A bullet ripped off his finger, then hit Yitzian in the head.

'It's just another cloudy day for us," said Hernandez. "We've been suffering since this happened and until this day we don't know anything about the responsible to do all this to us."

The Investigation

Tampa Police say two groups of jet skiers were fighting when the shots started. 

While interviews have been done, key clues have remained elusive. 

The family is renewing their call for someone to tell the police what they know.

"Go ahead, go to the police, say you did this to us and that's it," said Hernandez. "I don't want a revenge or anything."

The family returns to the location several times a year to keep it clean and honor Yitzian's memory. 

They're hoping that it won't be three years before somebody takes responsibility for what happened.

"You don't know what I'm going through," said his grandmother, Marisol Ayala. "You don't know the pain. I had to give him to my son and his mother in a coffin. It's not fair."

What's next:

The hope is that someone will be moved by their conscience or the $25,000 CrimeStoppers reward to finally give the family what it wants. 

Not a cure for their sadness, but a reason to stop wondering.

"He loved the water, he loved to stay here and that's what we were doing that day," said Hernandez. "We just enjoyed the day right here and all that happens."