A Tampa man in his mid-20s will not face criminal charges for fatally shooting 15-year-old Heitor Amaral, who had been searching for his lost cellphone in a gated apartment complex, police announced Thursday.
The Tampa Police Department said a “comprehensive review of the evidence” left them unable to refute the shooter’s self-defense claim after the Sept. 20 encounter on River Willow Place. The resident told investigators that Amaral put him in a headlock, prompting him to fire a single round in fear for his life.
Heitor had teamed with two friends that evening to track his missing device using location technology, which led them to the complex. The boys entered through an open gate and parked their truck in a roadway while searching, then moved it at a request before going door-to-door. After getting no answer at one unit, they entered an enclosed back patio and banged on a glass sliding door, police said.
The resident put on a mask and armed himself to scare off the teens. Two of the boys fled before the “physical altercation” between Amaral and the gunman, according to the official account.
Yessenia Gonzalez, whose 16-year-old son Julio was with Amaral that night, disputed that version entirely. The mother told the Tampa Bay Times there was no fight before the shooting and that all three teenagers were running away when the resident opened fire.
“I want the truth out there,” Gonzalez said. “There was no fighting. These kids had no weapons.”
Gonzalez relayed her son’s description of the masked shooter appearing eager to use his gun.
“My son said, ‘I don’t know what scared me more, the guy wearing a mask in his own house or the gun,'” she shared, adding that Julio described the man as looking like he “had a new toy” and was “jumping up and down” ready to fire.
Both Gonzalez and Amaral’s sister said the 15-year-old was not someone who would start a confrontation. Maysa Amaral described her brother as short and skinny, the youngest of three children who always did his chores, loved video games, and enjoyed riding an electric bike his father gave him.
“He was such a good kid,” Maysa Amaral said. “He absolutely did not deserve what happened to him.”
“We recognize the profound pain and concern this tragedy has caused for the family and friends of those involved, and for our entire community,” the department wrote.
Police did not publicly release the victim’s name. Maysa Amaral identified her brother to the Tampa Bay Times, noting he had just begun his freshman year of high school.
A GoFundMe organized by Maysa Amaral for funeral costs and legal fees had raised more than $6,000 toward its $10,000 goal. The fundraiser described Heitor as “a loving and caring kid who had so much more life ahead of him.”
“I want people to know that my brother was a loving and caring kid who had so much more life ahead of him, and now he is resting,” the page stated.
The shooting unfolded after Heitor Amaral lost his cellphone and used tracking technology to pinpoint it at the River Willow Place complex, where he and his friends entered through an open gate and eventually reached the resident’s back patio. The gunman, who has not been publicly identified, armed himself with a mask and firearm before the fatal encounter.