HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – It's been one year since Jacob Rivera was murdered in broad daylight on a busy street and the killer has still not been caught.
A year ago, Rivera's brother never would have done a television interview or pleaded to community for help. But today, he's worried about his mother, who recently moved away from South Florida to escape the pain of losing a child and the outrage that the killer is still on the loose.
"She's cried to me a couple times, 'I need help, none of your friends want to help me, nobody wants to give a helping hand,' so I feel bad. I don't want to turn my back on my mother," Walter Rivera told Local 10.
Jacob Rivera was still trying to find his way in the world. It's no secret he struggled with drugs and was more interested in gang life than school work, but he was just a kid. In fact, he was shot the day after his 16th birthday. A surveillance camera caught a glimpse of the killer running away from the scene with a white shirt covering his head.
"I'm thinking that it was somebody really close to him who got jealous," Walter Rivera said.
Police said Jacob Rivera was just walking on the sidewalk along busy Johnson Street when it happened at about 5:30 p.m.
A year later, candles, flowers and a reward poster marks the spot where Rivera was killed. His brother hopes going public like this proves to the community that his family is desperate to identify the shooter and bring justice for a grieving mother.
"Everybody knows everybody in Hollywood; somebody knows something," Walter Rivera said.
There's an $8,000 reward for information that leads to an in the case. The Rivera family themselves have put up $5,000.
Anyone with information is asked to call Broward Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).