San Bernardino police arrested a teen on Wednesday for the murder of a 14-year-old boy in late March.
The victim, Ayden Rodriguez, was found shot and killed blocks away from his home. His parents told their 14-year-old son to stay at home on Wednesday, March 27 but he snuck out of the house after someone threw a brick through his family's window. Within 45 minutes, the 16-year-old suspect allegedly shot Rodriguez in the neighborhood near F and 13th Streets.
"I wish I could tell him 'Don't go.' I wasn't there. It's just like an empty hole," father Brandon Weaver said.
Paramedics rushed Rodrigeuz to a nearby hospital, the San Bernardino Police Department said. Unfortunately, the 14-year-old died.
The department's homicide unit served several search warrants in the weeks following the killing.
Eventually, detectives tracked the suspect down after two weeks and arrested him on Wednesday during a traffic stop in San Bernardino. He was booked for felony charges in connection to the murder.
His family said another teen recently instigated a fight with their son and they were trying to keep the 14-year-old safe at home.
The teen's death devastated his family.
"He was just living a regular teenage life. Going to the movies with his girlfriend, just little teenage things that we all go through. Now that was all cut short over —we don't even know," mother Denise Gutierrez said.
Investigators believe the 16-year-old suspect is connected to another shooting of a juvenile.
Anyone with information on the case should call Detective T. Montez at (909) 384-5762 or Sergeant J. Plumber at (909) 384-5613.