Miami teens charged as adults in brutal attack on 12yo girl Three boys were indicted on adult charges Wednesday following a violent sexual assault on a 12 year old girl at a Miami community garden last summer. Nelson Nunez, 13, Jusiah Jones, 12, and Xavier Tyson, 15, face multiple felony charges after a grand jury determined the case warranted prosecution in adult court rather than the juvenile justice system. Miami police initially arrested the boys on juvenile charges the day after the June 18, 2025 incident at The Green Haven Project community garden located at 1160 Northwest Second Avenue near Frederick Douglass Elementary School in the Overtown neighborhood. The suspects were booked into the Metrowest Detention Center on Thursday, and Jones and Nunez appeared in adult bond court Friday where a judge ordered them held without bond. Mike Vega, spokesperson for the City of Miami Police Department, explained that the case gained renewed attention because the defendants are now being prosecuted as adults. Prosecutors confirmed Friday afternoon that all three boys face adult charges despite initial reports suggesting Tyson might remain in juvenile court. According to Miami Police Department arrest reports, the victim was leaving a friend’s house in Overtown when she encountered Jones, Nunez, and two other boys in a parking area. Nunez allegedly grabbed the girl and brought her to a couch within the garden while the others followed. The victim told investigators that Jones and Tyson held her by the arms and legs, preventing her from leaving, before the assault began. A woman who heard a commotion and saw the girl after the attack had her son call one of the witnesses to the incident. She partially recorded that phone conversation and provided the recording to police. The witness recounted details suggesting Tyson pulled down the victim’s clothing as she yelled for him to stop, while holding her hands. The assault continued for approximately 30 minutes. When the victim began screaming for help, Jones allegedly placed rocks in her mouth to silence her. The attack ended only when the boys heard the girl’s father calling her name and fled in the opposite direction from his voice. The woman who first noticed something wrong told police she heard screaming while picking up her mail. When she went upstairs and asked who was screaming, she received no response but then heard the girl’s father, whom she knew, calling his daughter’s name. A fourth boy was present during the incident but did not participate in the assault. A witness eventually flagged down a Miami Police patrol officer to report what happened. When detectives interviewed the boy who witnessed the crime, he explained that he did not intervene because he felt outnumbered and feared being beaten up if he tried to help. All three defendants face false imprisonment charges. Nunez and Jones are charged with sexual battery, while Nunez faces an additional kidnapping charge. Tyson is charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child. The severity of the charges and the decision to prosecute as adults reflects both the violent nature of the alleged crimes and Florida statutes that allow juveniles to be charged as adults under certain circumstances.
