Man Arrested in South Florida For Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, and Shooting 12-Year-Old Boy In The Face

A 43-year-old man has reportedly been arrested for the sickening kidnapping, sexual assault, and shooting of a 12-year-old boy in South Florida.

Aliex Santiesteban was arrested early Tuesday and booked into the Miami-Dade jail on charges of attempted felony murder, sexual battery with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping a child under the age of 13, according to CBS Miami. According to the news outlet, police were able to obtain a DNA match from the survivor.

Santiesteban was apprehended around 6:30 p.m. Monday in Miami’s Overtown area.

Between 2 and 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the boy was walking near NW 43rd Terrace and NW 30th Avenue in Brownsville when he was reportedly abducted at gunpoint by Santiesteban in a black four-door sedan.

According to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta of Miami-Dade Police Department, “He said the driver got out, walked up to him and grabbed him and forced him inside the vehicle. Once he was inside the vehicle, he tried to get out, but the child locks were activated. He couldn’t open the doors.”

Santiesteban allegedly sexually assaulted the boy and shot him in the face near NW 45th Street and 31st Avenue. Authorities say the boy was pushed out of the car, and Santiesteban fled in the vehicle.

“The young boy was trying to fight him off during the struggle, the fight, he hears a loud noise. He didn’t even say bang. He said he heard a really loud pop; that’s when the subject opens the door and pushes him out of the car,” Zabaleta said.

CBS Miami reported that a good Samaritan, who called himself “Johnny,” said that “He was screaming, ‘Help! Somebody help me! Please! Please!’ So I bring him to the store while we call the police. Before he was unconscious, he fell on the sidewalk, and he said he had been shot.”

Surveillance video showed the moment a kind stranger assisted the boy in getting to a store so they could dial 911.

According to Zabaleta, the boy was stable Monday, who added that the bullet might have killed him if it had been a millimeter in any direction. “He still has a long way ahead of him in terms of his recovery,” he added.

Zabaleta stated that the boy managed to sneak out of his house to meet friends without informing his parents, and he left pillows on his bed in case his parents came to check on him.