MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police have confirmed a man is in custody in connection with the kidnapping, attack and shooting of a 12-year-old boy.

He was identified as 43-year-old Aliex Santiesteban on Tuesday.

Santiesteban is charged with fatal weapon / serious injury sexual violence, abducts a child under the age of 13, and attempts murder.

Aliex Santiesteban. (Miami-Dade corrections & rehabilitation)

The boy was sexually assaulted and shot dead over the weekend and temporarily blinded after a bullet struck him in the jaw and went out through the other side of his head, authorities said Monday.

He is still in great pain as he continues to recover at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The boy’s life was likely saved by a Good Samaritan, and doctors say he would be dead if the bullet shot a millimeter in either direction.

“The boy says he can’t see anything at this point. He had lost his sight and was trying to use his touch to find his way around for help, ”said Det. Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department

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A man who says he just walks past Johnny says he saw the boy walking and crying alone early Saturday morning just blocks from the Foodland Market on Northwest 37th Avenue and 47th Street in Miami’s Dade County. Johnny can be seen on a video accompanying the boy to the market for help.

“He was conscious, he fell on the sidewalk and said he was shot. That’s all I know, “said Johnny. “He yelled, ‘Help someone, please help me.’ So I [brought] him to the store where they could call the police. “

Police said Santiesteban was driving a black four-door sedan.

According to investigators, the child was walking through the Brownsville neighborhood in northwest Miami-Dade County around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Saturday when he was kidnapped by Santiesteban, who grabbed him and forced him into the car.

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Police say the boy snuck out of his house Friday night to go to a friend who is more than two miles away. He even put pillows on his bed to trick his parents into believing he was still there.

The brutal attack occurred on his long way home.

UPDATE: A 12-year-old boy who was kidnapped, raped and shot snuck out of his house over the weekend to go over a friend’s house … even with pillows on his bed to trick his parents. The brutal attack occurred during the night on his way home. @ WPLGLocal10

– Terrell Forney (@TerrellWPLG) March 29, 2021

The victim told investigators that he was pulled into the attacker’s car. He tried to get out of the car, but the attacker had activated the child locks, he told police.

According to Santiesteban’s arrest report, he pulled his car onto a swale on Northwest 45th Street and 31st Avenue, forced the victim into the back seat, and raped him. Police said a brief fight ensued and Santiesteban shot the boy dead.

The victim told police he heard a loud bang and was pushed out of the car. He was shot in the face, temporarily blinded, and used his touch to get around.

The surveillance video from the Foodland Market shows witnesses who come to the aid of the boy and offer him water.

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The police and paramedics arrived within a few minutes. An officer helped the child onto a stretcher before taking the child to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where the child was in critical condition.

The crime shocked the neighbors.

“When they told me it was a little boy, it was terrible,” said Celine Mejia. “That’s sick. Whoever did it has to report it himself because that’s not the right thing to do. He’s a child.”

Police said Santiesteban denied the allegations against him.

Prior to his arrest, the police appealed to anyone with surveillance videos or ring cameras in the area to contact them.

“If this person is so bold, God knows what else he wants to do,” said Zabaleta. “The longer this person is out there, the longer our children are not safe in this area.”

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