The shooting happened around 1 p.m. inside a home in the area of 160 Sierra Dr. in Miami-Dade County, where Mekhi Stevenson and his brother were inside a bedroom with four friends, Miami-Dade police said.
The arrested teen took out a semi-automatic gun and started pointing it at others in the room and at the walls, according to his arrest affidavit. He also removed and reinserted the magazine into the gun.
Stevenson’s younger brother looked at the gun, told the 15-year-old it was loaded and asked him to “stop playing around with the firearm and put it away,” the affidavit states.
Stevenson, a junior at North Miami High, was shot in the chest. He ran to another room, collapsed and died, police said. Witnesses also told detectives they saw several people running from the scene. The 15-year-old was later found at his home and was taken to Miami-Dade police headquarters, where he invoked his right to counsel.
Stevenson’s friends and family gathered to mourn outside Sierra Park into the evening Tuesday. Loud sobs could be heard from mourners standing along the park, just after the medical examiner’s truck drove by and again as the teen’s body was lifted into the truck.
Just before 8 p.m., police took down the caution tape that closed part of Sierra Drive. Stevenson displayed a clear love of the sport. He posted many of his game highlights and boosted his teammates on his social platforms.
“He was a charismatic man, just a goofy little kid, a typical teenager,” North Miami football coach Gerald Cox said. “You know he’s a knucklehead, just like everybody else, but just like I love the rest of them, I love him, too.”
He played seven games this season, taking the team to the playoffs. The Pioneers lost against Homestead Senior High School in its first game.
“He had a good year, a good summer going into it,” Cox said. “We were just starting to kick off our off-season with them.”
Cox was in the middle of teaching his geometry class when Stevenson’s mother called him with the news of her son’s death. He dropped everything and rushed to the house.
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