Firearm-related deaths of youngsters decrease in Miami-Dade

3 children, 18 teenagers died of gunshot wounds last year

Two women hug at a vigil in Miami-Dade to honor the memory of 2-year-old Carnell Williams-Thomas who was shot and killed in the Goulds in 2017.

MIAMI – Firearms killed 21 youngsters last year, and boys and black children were most often the victims, according to data from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office.

From 2016 to 2017, there was a decrease of about 47 percent in firearm-related deaths of teenagers, ages 19 and under.

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In 2016, 34 teenagers, ages 19 to 14, and two children -- 8-year-old Jada Page and 6-year-old King Carter -- were killed in Miami-Dade shootings, while in 2017 there were 21 shootings killing 18 teenagers, ages 19 to 16, and three children in Miami-Dade County.

The youngest children died in southwest Miami-Dade County. Carnell Williams-Thomas, 2, who suffered a gunshot wound to the torso Dec. 15 in the Goulds, followed the Sept. 22 deaths of two siblings, 18-month-old Alfredo and 8-year-old Amberly Hernandez-Sierra, at the hands of their mother, Nisleydis Sierra, in a Princeton home. 


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.