Man pleads for help in finding his brother’s killer: ‘My family has been destroyed’
Nick Humet used an old T-shirt to cover his brother’s dried blood in the driver’s seat.
But he can’t seem to shake the awful feeling of having to drive home the 2007 Toyota Corolla his younger brother Jaime was murdered in Dec. 10, his brother’s gray lunchbox riding shotgun next to him.
“I had to sit in the seat he was assassinated in,” Nick Humet said Wednesday as he pointed out the trajectory of the bullet that pierced the back driver’s side window, went through his brother and out the front passenger side window.
Shattered glass littered the backseat between Jaime Humet’s rain boots, red yoga mat, books and other odds and ends. The car now sits at Nick’s home near North Miami Beach.
“I just can’t get that out of my head,” he said. “He died instantly. They didn’t even give him a chance. He died for nothing.”
Making it even harder to cope with the loss of his brother, a longtime librarian and “all around great guy”: Police still haven’t found Jaime’s killer.
“It’s not going to bring him back, but at least they can’t hurt anyone else,” Nick Humet said after a news conference at the Miami Gardens Police Department. “Our family will never be the same. My mom will never get over this.”
On Wednesday, detectives released new information in hopes of solving Jaime Humet’s murder — surveillance video of a white Kia Optima. They said they are looking for a man between the ages of 17 and 25, 150 to 160 pounds and 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 11 inches. He was last seen in a black hoodie, black sandals and white socks.
“Anytime someone is victimizing someone out there, they are dangerous and this is no different,” Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt said at the news conference. “This is something that should have never happened. We want to ensure that we get these individuals off the streets ... to make sure they can bring some closure to this family.”
While police haven’t released many details about the shooting, Nick said his brother was on his way home from work. It was his late night at the Miami Lakes library branch.
Jaime, who lived at home with his mother and two dogs, had called Nick — who had been in an accident the day before — to see if he needed anything from the grocery. Nick said he didn’t need anything. That was the last time anyone heard from him.
Jaime Humet made a stop at the Dade County Federal Credit Union, 20645 NW Second Ave., to check his balance, Nick said. That’s when someone shot him.
“He was ambushed,” Nick said. “All he had was $40 in his pocket.”
Meanwhile, Pilar Humet, his mother, paced back and forth waiting for her son to come home. It was not like him to just not show up.
The last message she sent to his phone: “Jimmy answer me. I’m calling the police. You have disappeared.”
She didn’t have to. Two detectives showed up around 12:30 a.m. Dec. 11 to break the news. Nick, who lives a few houses away from his mom, drove down the street to be there.
Pilar Humet fell on the floor.
Moving on has been a challenge. Jaime Humet, who was cremated, will be remembered Thursday in a small church ceremony.
Nick said he still hasn’t told his two young children that their favorite Tio isn’t coming home.
“I don’t want to ruin Christmas for them,” he said. “I just don’t know how to tell them he’s not coming home.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Gardens Detective S. Horne at 305-474-1560 or 786-261-9779 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
