The grandmother of an 11-year-old Pembroke Park boy who died in a shooting earlier this week that killed her mother, his sister and two half-siblings said he tried to shield them from the gunfire.
“He was really special and he was a good kid. He’s always protective of everybody, all his brothers, all his sisters,” Rita Hanson said. “He was just doing what Xion does, just trying to, you know, just be the protector that he is.”
Hanson said her grandson Xion Solomon wanted to be a football player.
The shooting
The shooting happened Wednesday evening at the Sundrift apartment building on West Hallandale Beach Boulevard shortly after 7:30 p.m.
Broward Sheriff’s investigators said Stephen McKenzie, 34, shot 32-year-old Julie Cruz and her four children—two of whom were his—before turning the gun on himself. When Pembroke Park police arrived to check out reports of gunfire at the building, they found the bodies of Cruz, 2-year-olds Nova and Emery McKenzie and Xion Solomon in unit 408, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
They also found McKenzie, and Cruz’s daughter 8-year-old Phiinyx Solomon who was suffering from gunshot wounds, according to sheriff’s investigators. Hanson said her son is the father of Xion and Phiinyx.
McKenzie was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition, and Solomon was taken to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital where she remains in serious condition.
Fighting for her life
Hanson said her granddaughter Phiinyx is sedated, fighting hard and “coming around.”
“I’m gonna go see my baby that’s fighting for her life right now,” she said. “I just want to be there for her.”
Hanson said she didn’t know much about McKenzie or if there were signs of any previous aggression, but urged anyone in a dangerous situation to leave.
