CHARLOTTE, NC – Sunday family members of 7-year-old Kevin Rodas gathered in Ramblewood Park to raise money for his funeral.
Rodas was one of four people shot at a birthday party outside a home on Fieldvale Place off Nations Ford Road Saturday night. Β Family members say the boy was shot while picking up candy from a piΓ±ata.Β Two adults and another child were hurt.
The boy’s brother-in-law Edgar Guevara talked with WCCB through a translator.
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“He says when they broke the piΓ±ata, all the kids were together gathering some candies, that’s when everything started, firing. Like they were waiting for the moment, that’s what he thought so,” the translator said.
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Police are trying to figure out who was targeted in the drive-by shooting.Β “He thinks that they did it on purpose,” the translator said.
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While police were still on scene, shots rang out again a half mile away on Echodale Drive.Β Investigators say two people were shot, 30-year-old Laquanta Young died from her injuries.
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Police haven’t said if they think the two might be connected. Β Neighbors are saddened.
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“A tragedy when anybody gets shot…. it’s bad because it was two shootings right here in the same neighborhood,” says neighbor Beatrice Cunningham.
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She and others in the community are hoping the suspects are caught or turn themselves in.
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“It is something that you have to live with the rest of your life. If you think about what you done done to other people,” Cunningham says.
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Meanwhile family continues to grieve the boy they say was bright and well-loved.Β “His teachers would admire him because he’s smart, and he was very happy most of the time,” Guevara said through the translator.
