TAMPA, Fla. — The family of a 14-year-old shot and killed near the railroad tracks between W Busch Boulevard and Rome Avenue is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.
Jevario Buie was shot and left to die nearly one week ago. On Tuesday, 10 Tampa Bay spoke with Jevario's grandfather, Michael Baldwin, who's calling for the person responsible to come forward.
“We need them to have courage and to speak up,” he said in an interview.
Baldwin says he's learned his grandson went near the train tracks thinking he was going to stand up to a bully. Instead, he says a group ambushed and killed him.
“We believe that he was lured into that space by somebody that he trusted,” he said. “Somebody that he saw as a friend. That friend saw it go down and ran and left him.”
He last saw his grandson a couple of months ago and says the eighth-grader at Memorial Middle School had a kind and gentle heart.
“They left him out there to die by himself on some train tracks,” he said. “And my daughter and my family are heartbroken.”
Tampa police say they've made no arrests and continue to want anyone who knows what happened to come forward.
“Now is the time for them to not be a coward,” Baldwin said. “Now is the time for them to make sure that no other family has to experience this. Because Jevario was a really good kid."
Jevario lived for a time with his grandfather in California, learning some male wisdom and bonding, returning to Tampa about a year and a half ago.
“He wasn't a gang member,” he said. “He didn't smoke. He didn't drink. He didn't do drugs. He didn't have a gun. He didn't rob people. He didn't steal. He didn't do those things. He was just a regular 14-year-old kid.”
He says Jevario's three little sisters are traumatized and his mother still hasn't seen her son's body.
“My family is beyond grief-ridden,” he said. “It's hard to even describe it.”
His family will remember Jevario as the budding football player and jokester. They're hoping his killer will remember his face, and find a conscience to turn themself in.
In addition to the reward, Jevario's family is working to set up a website soon at www.justice4jevario.com. They also are planning a vigil for Jevario on Saturday in Tampa.