16 years old, president of his class - gunned down in his front yard while his siblings watched

UPDATE | 06-01-2010

The victim has been identified as 16-year-old Juan C. Garcia of Kansas City, Missouri. There are no suspects in custody and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-8477.

ORIGINAL POST | 05-31-2010

A teenager was shot and killed Monday afternoon in east Kansas City.

Darin Snapp with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department said officers were called around 3:20 p.m. to a home in the 1500 block of Belmont on a report of a shooting.

When officers arrived, they found a man in his late teens with no signs of live. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/crime/one-person-dies-in-east-kansas-city-shooting

"He was good in the school," Garcia (his father) said. "Very nice boy."

Garcia said his eldest was student body president at his high school, played football, and at just 16, was set to graduate this summer, all while filling in for his parents when they were at work.

"He make my dinner every day," Garcia said. "He take care of my other two kids."

Garcia said the other two children, one a girl only 4-years-old, were both in the yard watching when the shooting occurred. http://www.kctv5.com/news/23749338/detail.html

Carlos Garcia says that he moved his family to Kansas City 10 years ago to escape violence in his native Mexico. But now he and his family and others in the community are mourning after Garcia's 16-year-old son Juan was shot and killed in front of the family's east side home on Monday.

Family and friends say that Juan Garcia had a bright future in front of him. Garcia was president of his class at East High School and a member of the National Honor Society, and his parents say that he wanted to be a doctor to help people. But those dreams were shattered earlier this week when someone shot and killed him in front of his two younger siblings.

"We were looking for better opportunity for my kids, better life," said Carlos Garcia. "We were working hard, we no like problems."

Carlos Garcia says that trouble found his son on Monday, when a gold Dodge Caravan pulled up in front of his Belmont Avenue home, and two young men with guns argued with his son before shooting him in the stomach, chest and head. He says that his son was shot in front of his 12-year-old brother and 3-year-old sister.

"The last moment when the guy was still with the gun in his hand, (Juan) said go inside the house brother take the baby inside the house and the other guy still shot him," said Carlos Garcia, who says that it feels like his whole life is ruined. He's hoping who ever is responsible for his son's murder is arrested.

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-juan-garcia-murder-vigil-060210,0,7201039.story