Caught on video, he opened fire on a car, his toddler nearby. A Miami jury weighed in

Alvin Little spotted some men in a passing car, went home to retrieve a gun and then opened fire on the vehicle on a Liberty City street — in broad daylight, with his 3-year-old son just a few feet away.

The wild gun battle, captured on surveillance video, left one man dead and Little behind bars.

Little claimed self-defense, even though he opened fire first, and on Wednesday a Miami-Dade jury acquitted him of child abuse and the most serious charge of second-degree murder. But he’s not getting out of jail. Jurors still convicted him of shooting a deadly missile and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Little, 32, faces up to 45 years in prison. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Thomas Rebull will sentence him in the coming weeks.

The child was not injured. The incident was but one of many shootings in North Miami-Dade in recent years in which children have been struck or nearly struck by gunfire between adults.

Among the most high-profile: the 2016 killing of Jada Page, who this month had a street named in her honor. Just three months after Little opened fire, another child, 4-year-old Nyla Jones, was caught in the crossfire of a dispute in the Liberty Square housing community. She died.

Little’s gun battle happened on Jan. 19, 2018, at Northwest 70th Street and Seventh Avenue. At trial, jurors heard from prosecutors that Little was walking with his son, then went home to get his gun. Minutes later, video showed, a silver Hyundai turned onto a street, slowed down and Little jumped out from behind a parked truck, squeezing off a volley of rounds.

Somebody in the car returned fire, hitting the parked truck, narrowly missing the little boy. Killed in the car was Michael Robinson, the driver. Another man got out, and continued firing at Little. A woman in the car was injured by broken glass.

At trial, Little took the stand, claiming he opened fire because he believed the men in the car were headed to commit a drive-by shooting. He also claimed he didn’t know the men in the car, and the reason he’d run home was not to get a weapon, but to retrieve money to buy a meal at a nearby restaurant.

Little was defended by lawyer Elizabeth Delgado-Mizrahi and prosecuted by Jonathan Borst and Wally Hernandez.

This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 1:43 PM.