Grief-stricken mother wants her 27-year-old son's killers caught

Authorities offer $13,000 reward for information on murder in Miami Gardens

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It has been six months since a shooting left Samantha McDaniel's 27-year-old son dead and her 1-year-old grandson suffering. The boy will have to live the rest of his life with bullet fragments all over his body.

In tears, McDaniels said her son Darin Williams gave his life to protect her grandson. She wants his killers caught. Detectives have yet to identify the four men who were in a dark-colored Honda with tinted windows when they decided to fire dozens of shots even though Williams was holding his son. 

A bullet grazed the boy's head. 

"My life will never be the same," the grieving mother said. 

McDaniels said Williams was a recent graduate of the fire academy when the killers targeted him July 23 at her home in Miami Gardens. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel rushed him to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center where doctors pronounced him dead. 

Williams' cousin Latonya Brown said she still can't understand why he was shot about 9 p.m. He was visiting his mom who lives area of Northwest 23rd Avenue and 187th Street. He didn't have enemies and had a future ahead of him as a firefighter, she said. 

"Darin was a hero," Brown said. 

McDaniels said she is hoping someone in the community identifies the gunmen. She is asking anyone with information about her son's murder to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. There is a reward of $13,000 for information leading to an arrest. 
 


About the Authors:

Nicole Perez is the the primary co-anchor of Local 10 News at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. She first joined Local 10 in July 2016 as the morning traffic reporter.

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.