MIAMI — The three boys accused in the violent rape of a 12-year-old girl in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood faced a judge on Wednesday.
Miami-Dade Judge Richard Hersch heard arguments for and against keeping Nelson Nunez, 13, and Jusiah Jones, 12, locked up until their trials during a pre-trial detention hearing for the two boys.
The third suspect, Xavier Tyson, 15, is out of custody but was also in court on Wednesday, with his own impending pre-trial detention hearing. Prosecutors also want him back behind bars.
According to the Miami Police Department, the rape happened on July 18 at The Green Haven Project community garden, located at 1160 NW Second Ave., near Frederick Douglass Elementary School.
The three were arrested soon after, but the case became public in February after the they were charged as adults.
MPD arrest reports state that the young girl was leaving a friend’s house in Overtown when she saw Jones, Nunez, Tyson and another boy in a parking lot area.
That other boy witnessed the incident but did not participate and is not facing charges, telling detectives he didn’t intervene “because he was outnumbered and was afraid of getting beat up,” according to MPD.
According to police, Nunez grabbed the girl and took her to a couch within the garden as Jones and the other boys followed. The report states that the victim told police that Jones and a then-14-year-old Tyson “held her by the arms and legs preventing her from leaving” before Nunez started raping her.
Jones is accused of shoving rocks in the girl’s mouth to keep her quiet during what she described as a 30-minute sexual assault.
Hersch said he wanted to see the boys’ school records before making any decisions.
“I want to see it all,” he said.
Jones’ mother testified during Wednesday’s hearing, saying that despite an unspecified prior case in the juvenile justice system, her son is not a troublemaker.
“I never suspected anything. His family never expected anything from Jusiah,” she said. “I never expected anything like this from my son.”
Arguing for his release, Jones’ lawyer, Jean-Michel D’Escoubet, said the victim made statements suggesting Jones was remorseful and joined the two older boys under “duress.”
“My client is the only one who took pause, had a conscience, and said he should stop, ‘this is going too far,’ ‘this is rape,’ ‘we shouldn’t do this,’” D’Escoubet told the judge.
Prosecutor Arvind Singh retorted, “I understand the victim states she feels maybe he was pressured or coerced, but he is still the man that admitted ‘this is rape’ and still continued and actually put the rocks in her mouth to keep her from screaming.”
The hearing is set to continue Thursday morning at 11 a.m.
Tyson’s pre-trial detention hearing has been set for Tuesday.
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