Suspect charged in Coral Gables High stabbing
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (WSVN) -- Students dressed in black returned to school a day after a 17-year-old was stabbed to death in the courtyard of Coral Gables Sr. High School.
Seventeen-year-old Andy Rodriguez has been charged with one count of second degree murder after he confessed to stabbing Juan Carlos Rivera, also 17, multiple times on campus Tuesday.
Rodriguez's mother and grandmother plead before a judge to release him, but the court judge denied their request.
Students said what started as a fist fight turned into a deadly stabbing when Rodriguez pulled out a switchblade and stabbed Rivera multiple times. "They were just pushing off each other, and at one moment, one student pulled out a knife," said fellow student Felix Cedeno. "I don't know if it was a switchblade or a box cutter, and he stabbed the victim three times."
Miami-Dade Police said Rodriguez confessed to the murder and is currently at a juvenile assessment center in Downtown Miami.
Cedeno recalls the horrifying incident that occurred just after 9 a.m. "One wound on the chest, another wound on the collar bone and one right behind the kidney. I was like, I can't believe this is happening. I see a guy bleeding, I see him in pain holding his chest, and as soon as he fell to the ground I ran over to help him as soon as I could, while calling 911," he said.
Cedeno said Rodriguez ran away soon after the stabbing. "He backed off, he looked at him with an angry face, and then he ran off towards the Riveria side."
Peers said the two teens were fighting over a girl.
Officials locked down the school as students peered out of their classroom windows. Parents rushed to the scene, frantic and worried about their children. "A kid just died, just passed away. That's what they say," said one parent.
Meanwhile, Rivera's cousin went to the school hoping to find him. Rivera just moved to South Florida from Cuba five months ago. "I asked a girl, 'Hey, do you know my cousin?' and she says 'Who's your cousin?' and I told her the name and showed her a picture and she says, 'Oh, find out, because I think that's the guy that got killed,'" said Laura Peinado, as she sobbed.
Five years ago, a student, 14-year-old Jaime Gough, at Southwood Middle School was stabbed to death in a bathroom by a knife-wielding student, Michael Hernandez, also 14. The parents of Gough were reminded of their own loss when the news broke of Rivera's death. "No parent would like to go through that. You send your kid to school, and you expect them to come back home," said Jorge Gough.
The Gough family said they will pray for Rivera's family and continue to lament that the change they had hoped to see in schools since their own son's murder still hasn't happened. "I've been going through this for five years, and I still haven't seen anything happen at the schools," said Gough. "Metal detectors or something for the kids. We're spending money on stuff, and our children are dying in the schools."
Rodriguez's next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Parents who have any questions, concerns or would like grief counseling should call the parent hotline at 305-995-3000.
here is the Florida one.
Arbygil
