Woman in danger of losing home after husband killed gets helping hand

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A woman who was in danger of losing her home after her husband was killed last month got a much-needed helping hand.

Tears ran down the face of Jami Batiste as she described the moment Miami-Dade police officers knocked on her door and told her that her husband of 17 years had been shot and killed.

"They were trying to tell me what happened, so I just covered my ears so they couldn't tell me no more," Jami Batiste said. "I have spent my entire adult life with him."

It was just before 7 p.m. Aug. 30 when investigators said Jean Pierre Batiste, 37, was at the intersection of Northwest 79th Street and Northwest 22nd Avenue when shots were fired and he was hit.

While Jean Pierre Batiste was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, he ultimately lost his life. Police are still searching for his killer.

JP, as Jami Batiste calls him, was leaving the area after going to a Wynwood gym. She believes he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"He didn't hang out. He didn't go party. He wasn't in the street. He just stayed home with us," Jami Batiste said.

JP, a Navy veteran, worked as a civilian government contractor doing technical aviation work.

Jami Batiste watched over their three children, but with no income, is now facing their home being foreclosed on by their lender, Wells Fargo. That was until Local 10 News stepped in.

"We reached out to Wells Fargo and they told us that they were going to suspend that foreclosure for you, considering everything that you're going through," Local 10 News' Roy Ramos said.

"It's a relief, because it was coming so soon," Jami Batiste said. "It was December."

The news is one less worry for a family who has already lost so much.

Jami Batiste's message to JP's killer is: "You took everything from all of us -- everything. You destroyed everything."

Local 10 News is still working to find out more about what led up to the gunfire on 79th Street a month ago and if police are any closer to catching JP's killer.

A GoFundMe account has been set up by the family.