MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A friend of a man shot and killed in Miami Beach last week is asking for the public's help to bring Kamil Patel's killer to justice.
Katy Park, who witnessed the shooting, started a GoFundMe page, seeking funds to raise the existing $5,000 reward being offered for information that leads to an arrest.
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On the page, Park describes the events before Patel's death. Park said she came to visit Patel, who had just moved to South Florida from Texas for a job as the operations manager at the Prada store in the Bal Habour Shops. The two met in Dallas when Patel was working for Louis Vuitton.
Patel and Park went out in South Beach Thursday night for drinks and to sing karaoke. The two had drinks at Mac's Deuce Bar in the 200 block of 14th Street and then headed down an alley on their way to Kill Your Idol karaoke bar just before midnight.
"That’s when time stopped. A small African American male got out of the passenger side of a white car pointing a gun at us," Park said. "He fired two shots that hit Kamil in the left shoulder and abdomen, then got back in the car and disappeared. I am alive because Kamil protected me. He didn't hesitate. His last words were, 'Katy, keep walking.'"
Melissa Berthier, a spokeswoman for the city of Miami Beach, said Friday that the gunman was wearing a hoodie and took off in a white sedan with a temporary tag. The tag number may be CC34319.
"The description of the shooter is a thin black male with medium-length dreadlocks, wearing a dark hoodie," she said.
Park described Patel as a loyal friend who loved his family more than anything or anyone.
Park said friends and family will hold a memorial service for Patel Saturday, which would have been his 30th birthday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.