TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 Five years ago today, 21-year-old Nadji Patrick Rivera went to a birthday party at an apartment complex in Tampa and never made it home.<\/p>\n
He was shot and killed, and no arrests have ever been made.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard,” said Jaimie Col\u00f3n, Nadji’s birth mother. “I want to hear his voice. It’s very hard.”<\/p>\n
It’s been five years. Five birthdays, holidays and years of milestones Nadji Rivera never got to see.<\/p>\n
“I have my first grandson who just turned a year a week ago,” Col\u00f3n said. “These are all things that he would have been amazing to be a part of. He would be the best uncle in the world.”<\/p>\n
On Aug. 28, 2021, Tampa police responded to the Riviera Apartments on Del Rey Court.<\/p>\n
Nadji was at a birthday party there, when he was shot.<\/p>\n
“His best friend came to my house and knocked on my door and told me that there had been a situation at a party,” Col\u00f3n said. “So, I got in my car, and I went over there. By the time I got to the Riviera complex, EMS already had Nadji in the van and were taking him to the hospital.”<\/p>\n
Nadji later died at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Five years later, no one has been arrested for his murder.<\/p>\n
We reached out to Tampa Police Department for an update on the investigation and they responded with this statement: “There are no words that can adequately express the pain Nadji’s family continues to experience each day. Tampa Police Detectives continue to follow leads in this case and seek justice for the family.”<\/p>\n
“Arresting the person or people who are responsible for his murder would help, but it’s not going to fix anything, honestly,” Col\u00f3n said. “I’m still without him at the end of the day.”<\/p>\n
After five years without her son, Jaimie said she is not giving up.<\/p>\n
Because somewhere, she believes someone knows what happened to Nadji.<\/p>\n
“He was just a good person,” Colon added. “I know he would have been doing great things if he would have still been here. He’s missed a lot.”<\/p>\n
TPD believes there are individuals who may have information about what happened and have not come forward.<\/p>\n
Officals are asking them to do the right thing and share what they know.<\/p>\n
Even the smallest piece of information can help solve this case.<\/p>\n
If you have any information, you are urged to call Tampa Police at\u00a0813-231-6130\u00a0or submit a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay<\/a>.<\/p>\n