MIAMI – A judge will determine whether the brother and sister of 17-year-old Trevon Johnson, a burglary suspect who was killed last week by a homeowner can remain under the care of their foster parent, or if they’ll have to be relocated.
"I don’t want the same thing that happened to your brother to happen to you, and that’s the road we're heading down. Do you understand?" Judge Martin Zilber said during a hearing on Thursday.
Johnson was killed by Gwendolyn Jennette, 54, while he was trying to rob her Liberty City home, according to Miami-Dade police.
Jennette returned home on March 10 after her burglar alarm went off and saw Trevon leaving the house through the rear door, according to police. There was an altercation and shots were fired.
Officers arrived moments after the shooting, and Johnson was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died.
The court believes that relocating Johnson's siblings may be the best solution because their foster home is only a few blocks from where Johnson was shot.
Although moving them is now a priority, the teenagers refuse to leave to go to a group home.
"The lady said she called the police," Johnson's brother said. "The police told her, 'Don’t go in the house.' She still (goes) in the house and (is) searching for something then she shot one time and hit him in the chest."
The children’s mother, who was at the hearing, had her own message to the court.
"You don’t even care about (them) though," she said. "You don’t even care about my son who’s dead either."
The woman removed herself from the courtroom, leaving the Department of Children and Families to find a place for her children, while police continue their investigation.
Johnson's funeral is scheduled for this weekend. The judge decided that his two siblings can stay where they are until after the service.