A year after 7-year-old shot on Fourth of July, family mourns, seeks answers

Yitzian Torres-Garcia was going to Disney World.

It would be the end of his summer vacation, which he’d spent visiting his grandparents in Tampa. Torres-Garcia and his mother had recently moved to New Jersey, so he only got to see his grandparents a few times a year. They loved to spoil him, his grandmother said, and so they planned to take him to the theme park on Aug. 4, 2023, to celebrate his eighth birthday.

Instead, Torres-Garcia was buried in Puerto Rico before that day came. A month before his birthday, while waiting to see the Fourth of July fireworks with his grandfather, he was shot in the head by a stray bullet.

“He just wanted to go see the fireworks like a normal little kid,” said Marisol Ayala Hernandez, his grandmother.

On the beach off the Courtney Campbell Causeway, Torres-Garcia was playing in the water with other children around 8:30 p.m. when a jet ski sped past them.

Two groups of men — unrelated to him and his grandfather — began arguing over the reckless use of the watercraft, with some upset the children were endangered.

The argument soon escalated, and members of the two groups exchanged gunfire.

Juan Carlos Hernandez, the boy’s grandfather, grabbed him and rushed him to his truck, taking cover from the shootout. But a bullet went through the truck, striking Hernandez in the hand and killing Torres-Garcia.

The 7-year-old didn’t get to see the fireworks that night. The ones they brought were never set off.

A year later, the family is no closer to an answer, despite the large Fourth of July crowd on the beach that night. Police believe photos and videos of the night’s events are still out there.

Ayala Hernandez said he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. He enjoyed playing video games like Fortnite and Roblox.

Stephanie Arroyo Garcia, his aunt, said Torres-Garcia’s grandfather nicknamed him “Bootie” because when he was born, he was “a little bit chunky.”

“We want to get justice for him,” Arroyo Garcia said. “He was a child. Now, he’s an angel.”

On Wednesday, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives each added $5,000 to the reward for information leading to an arrest — for a total of $25,000 in potential reward money.

Florida Crime Stoppers are already calling it a cold case. The organization included Torres-Garcia’s name and face in a deck of playing cards intended to produce leads in unsolved death investigations. His case is the most recent in the set.

Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a news conference Wednesday that going to watch the Fourth of July fireworks “should not be the end of a life of a 7-year-old.” He urged anyone with information to call Tampa police at 813-231-6130 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477.

“Even if you have information that you’re not sure how valuable it is, please share it with us,” Bercaw said. “Of course, it can be anonymous.”

Ayala Hernandez, speaking through tears, asked those involved in the argument on the beach that night to turn themselves in.

“You try to defend babies in an argument, and you killed an innocent baby,” Ayala Hernandez said. “My grandson had nothing to do with this.”

About 10 family members gathered Thursday at the site of a roadside memorial for Torres-Garcia to honor the anniversary of his death.

At first glance, the gathering resembled many of the other Fourth of July celebrations on the beach — with American flags, red-and-blue balloons and an assortment of hot dogs and burgers sizzling on the grill.

But beyond the family was a long row of about 40 signs with photos of Torres-Garcia, each calling for “No Stray Bullets” and “Justice” in both English and Spanish. A small gravestone sat at their center, surrounded by toys: Mickey Mouse, monster trucks and a Rubik’s Cube.

That evening, the family set off Torres-Garcia’s fireworks, a year after he and his grandfather first brought them to the beach.