Hunter Howell, 22.
Courtesy of Holly Fuente via GoFundMe
The family of a Broward man is seeking justice after two teens were arrested in Texas on Thursday after being accused of murdering him.
Jayden DeJesus, 19, and Trevon Quinones, 19, are accused of killing Hunter Howell, 22, and leaving his body in a car at a boat ramp off U.S. 27 near Weston on Feb. 1, police say.
“He got shot. They shot him. They shot him and tried to burn the evidence,” said Linda Howell, Hunter’s mother.
“He was Ubering everywhere, and he friended these two kids, and I don’t even know where. So for the last couple of months, he’d pay them 50 bucks, and they’d pick him up from work, or they’d take him to the bank, or they’d take him home to eat, whatever the case was, they took him, and they showed up all the time,” Linda said.
But Hunter’s relatives say there was a tragic change.
“Then Saturday night, I guess, they called and said, ‘You want to go hang out?’ And he was like, ‘Sure, let me just change or whatever.’ And he gets in the car with them, and they drove him out there, I guess, after that, and murdered him and robbed him for, you know, whatever he had, and left him for dead, and tried to catch the car on fire, and he burned some up in the process, but it failed, because they shut the doors and the fire went out,” she said.
Hunter’s mom and sister wonder why someone would kill him.
“He was singing, he was making music. He was making beats,” Linda said.
His sister, Cheyenne, said: “He was amazing, selfless, you know, he would give the shirt off his back. He was a great citizen.”
BSO said the evidence led investigators to the suspects in Texas. Now, detectives are working to answer the question: why?
“Simply because an arrest is made does not mean that the investigation is over. In fact, this investigation is certainly active and ongoing as detectives are trying to figure out exactly what led to this homicide,” said BSO spokesman Carey Codd.
Hunter’s family is waiting for that answer, too.
“The kid was a rising star, and anything he touched turned to just the best thing ever. He was magical. He was a sweet, sweet child, and I’ll miss him forever,” his mom said.
No word yet on when the suspects will be brought to Broward County.
This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.