A teen mother spoke about her grief and horror after her 2-year-old son was shot and killed in front of her when two groups of people opened fire in Langley Park, Maryland, on Thursday.
Jeremy Poou-Caceres was the victim. His mother was recently released from a hospital after she was shot and wounded. Her left leg was bandaged.
“We don’t got tears anymore, but we’re depressed,” she told Telemundo 44. News4 and Telemundo 44 are protecting her identity because she is a crime victim and witness.
She was pushing her son in a stroller when groups of people began shooting off Kanawah Street.
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“I grabbed my son and tried to save my son. That was all I could think about,” she said.
The toddler was rushed to Children's National Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His mother and loved ones are just beginning to grieve.
“We have the trauma to see that. How did our baby die?” the mother asked.
Charging documents reveal how police were able to identify the two suspects, Israel Fuentes Jr. and Johnny Turcios. Detectives say Fuentes called police 90 minutes after the shooting and made up a story saying his cellphone and money had been taken in an armed robbery near the shooting scene.
Investigators say Fuentes blocked the number from which he was calling to prevent police from seeing that he had a second cellphone, which they say showed “consciousness of guilt.”
Police say they located Fuentes’ phone at an apartment on University Boulevard. That’s where they took Turcios in for questioning. Police say that at the apartment, they found a gun and, on the steps, a blue latex glove that matched a glove found near the getaway car. It was a Ford Explorer that had been taken in a carjacking.
Police say a witness saw Fuentes and Turcios shoot guns at another group in a grassy field during a dispute over drug territory, striking the toddler and his mother.
They were not the intended targets, police said.
“I believe that we were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that’s how we lost our son,” the mother said.
During questioning, Fuentes told detectives, “I do feel terrible about what happened to the child.”
Investigators obtained video of the carjacked SUV showing four suspects getting out eight minutes after the toddler and his mother were shot. Police say an AK-47-style rifle was found inside.
The suspects appeared in court Monday and were ordered held without bond.
