Police say what began as a catfight between Florida high school students took a fatal turn once a father tried to de-escalate the brawl.
Miami-Dade Police officials said the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 near the NW 14th Street and NW 1st Court bus stop. Police said a 15-year-old girl got into a verbal disagreement with a classmate on the ride home from Homestead Senior High School. The girl told CBS News the student she was arguing with maced her, which escalated things into a physical altercation. She also told the outlet the student spat on her.
According to video footage of the incident, the fight broke out in the driveway of a home. A crowd gathered around the two girls as they squabbled. The video shows one of the girls spitting on the other. Once the two were separated, the crowd began to disperse and two men began shoving each other, the video shows. Suddenly, a shot rang out and one of the men was hit the ground.
Police say that man was 47-year-old Johnny Stevenson, the father of the 15-year-old girl and also to her 13 siblings. Authorities said he was trying to de-escalate the fight when he was shot. He was driven to Baptist Homestead Hospital and then airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center where he died in surgery, per Local 10 News.
“The person who shot my dad pulled my best friend away, then he pulled my momma. That’s when my dad seen him, then the boy shoved my dad. My dad shoved him back and then the boy pulled out a gun and shot him,” Stevenson’s daughter told CBS News. “I seen my dad in the corner of my eye. I seen him fall. I wasn’t really thinking. I see him on the floor, I put pressure on his stomach. My mom, she comes to put pressure on his stomach.”
The shooter was identified as 22-year-old Kentarian Lamont Cross, who turned himself into authorities the day following the incident. Though his defense attorney claims he acted in self-defense, Cross was charged with second-degree murder and ordered to be held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to Local 10’s report.