PARKLAND, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office says it has found the car it believes is tied to the death of a Parkland teen. Detectives are still searching for the people who were inside at the time of the shooting.
On Sunday, 17-year-old Braylon Daniel Diaz was killed in front of his girlfriend. The shooting happened around 7 pm near South Sheridan Avenue and 102nd Street South.
According to detectives, a vehicle pulled up and called him over. The people inside then robbed him of some jewelry, shot him, and took off. Diaz didn’t survive.
The sheriff’s office believes it was a random attack.
“I just broke down,” Miranda Grimmett, his mother, said. “It was so hard.”
Diaz’s grieving family is now one step closer to closure.
“This is very big for us,” Deputy Carly Cappetto of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said of the discovery.
On Tuesday, the department released video of a car they believe the shooter was in. Detectives found it yesterday, but no one was inside.
“The vehicle was not listed as stolen,” Cappetto said. “It was found abandoned in the Federal Way area. It clearly had been abandoned for purposes of not being seen on the road or used anymore.”
“God, I didn’t want it to be real,” Grimmett said. “I still don’t want it to be real. I want to wake up from this.”
Grimmett said her son was a kind and gentle teen who put others first. He was passionate about soccer and football, which he played at Washington High School. He also loved playing pranks.
“He was always so happy,” she said. “Such a jokester. A really good brother.”
KIRO 7 News spoke with Diaz’s uncle earlier this week about the kind of person he was.
“He didn’t ever want to see nobody hurt,” said Johnathon Grimmett. “Even to the last minute, he told his girlfriend to stand back when it happened. It’s a selfless act.”
Diaz was a student at Washington High School and active in both the football and soccer programs.
“Everybody at school loves him,” said Grimmett. “They all know what kind of good kid he is. The kid wasn’t a gangbanger. He’s a straightforward kid. He just wanted to love and be loved.”
Investigators said finding the car put them on the trail of multiple persons of interest, and it is now being searched for forensic evidence.
“There are not enough places to hide in the world right now,” Cappetto said. “They will be located.”
Diaz’s family started a Gofundme to help them through this difficult time.
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