A 9-year-old boy was shot and killed in Florida City, and a teen has been arrested

More than two months after a 9-year-old boy was killed while playing with his friends outside a Florida City apartment complex, an arrest has been made in connection with his death, deputies say.

On Nov. 16, Antavious Scott was outside Southpoint Crossing Apartments, 865 W. Lucy St., when at least 11 shots were fired from an open field north of the complex’s fence. Florida City police officers arrived around 9:40 p.m. and found Antavious shot in the back. He was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital where he died.

“Antavious known as TayTay was a child full of life and held many different characteristics within his one little body, a sibling to 3 and a soon-to-be star football player,” Teretha Williams, his grandmother, wrote on a GoFundMe started to help pay for the funeral costs.

READ MORE: ‘He should be alive.’ Family, friends mourn death of 9-year-old boy in Florida City

On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting, arrested 19-year-old Montreal Savontae Jackson Jr. He was charged with second-degree murder.

Investigators say Antavious was an innocent bystander in the shooting, although the intended target and motive are still under investigation.

Investigators say video surveillance showed a white Volkswagen sedan reverse parking near Northwest 14th Street and 8th Avenue in Florida City at 9:14 p.m. Two men dressed in dark clothing exited the vehicle and walked west toward the scene, according to Jackson’s arrest affidavit.

The footage showed the two men loitering in the area for several minutes, armed with a firearm, before returning to the car at 9:24 p.m. They then moved the vehicle to a residential area near Southwest 6th Street and 12th Avenue in Homestead, just northwest of the shooting scene, deputies say.

At around 9:30 p.m., shortly before the shooting, the same two men were seen walking into an open field and then going back to their vehicle at 9:33 p.m, deputies say.

The vehicle was identified as a 2015 white Volkswagen with a Florida license plate that various license plate readers captured on the day of the incident. At 8:35 p.m. on the night Antavious was killed, a license plate recognition camera recorded the car near the homicide scene, deputies say. An analysis confirmed matching physical features in the identified car, deputies say.

Jackson was identified as the son of the car’s registered owner and had previously provided law enforcement with his cellphone number in July 2023. In December, a search warrant for his phone data was issued. The data revealed that his phone was in the area of the scene just before and during the shooting. Additionally, the Volkswagen’s movements matched the travel path of Jackson’s phone, deputies say.

Jackson, who lives with his mother, was taken into custody at their Princeton home.

“This case weighed heavily on all of us as Antavious was only 9 years-old, but today, justice has prevailed. To the investigators, community members, and everyone who played a role in bringing answers to the family, I thank you. We will always fight for those who can no longer speak for themselves,” said Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz.

The sheriff’s office did not say whether a second person has been arrested.

Jail records show Jackson was at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Wednesday afternoon. His bond status is “to be set.” His attorney information was not immediately on the county clerk’s website.

This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM.