One of the boys accused of participating in a brutal Miami sexual assault has been released ahead of trial.
According to Local 10, on Monday, a judge ruled that 13-year-old Nelson Nunez, who is accused of raping a young girl in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, will remain behind bars. However, 12-year-old Jusiah Jones, who made headlines for allegedly shoving rocks into the victim’s mouth to keep her from screaming during the assault, has been granted release. A third boy charged in the case, 15-year-old Xavier Tyson, is also out of custody. He was 14 at the time of the alleged assault and is scheduled to appear in court soon.
The alleged rape reportedly took place on June 18 at The Green Haven Project community garden, near Frederick Douglass Elementary School. Nunez has been accused of being the “ringleader” who orchestrated the attack.
Jones’ lawyer, Jean-Michel D’Escoubet, said the accuser indicated his client was remorseful and acted under “duress.”
“My client received a substantially different outcome because he was in a substantially different position,” D’Escoubet said. “The position he was in was that he was forced to do the things that he did by the other two children as a threat of force, and those were the words of the young victim herself.”
Meanwhile, Nunez’s attorney, Bijan Sebastian Parwaresch, said he remains optimistic that his client will eventually be released.
“That doesn’t mean he’s going to stay in custody forever,” he said. “It just means, for now, as we are defending the case and resolving the case, he will remain in custody.”
All three boys have been charged as adults.
