Family remembers loving, funny teen murdered outside laundromat
By Michael Warrick
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SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — The family of the Shelbyville teen murdered outside a laundromat is pleading for justice as they mourn the death of 14-year-old Israel Diego-Pascual, whose brother remembers him as a loving, funny teen.
A surveillance image from inside Duck River Laundry shows Israel hug his mother just minutes before he was shot to death outside.
“That last hug meant something special,” Israel’s brother Adolfo Sebastian said. “He whispered into her ear and said, ‘I love you mom’ and she said back ‘I love you too,’ not knowing that was going to be his final goodbyes to her.”
Shelbyville investigators identified Horatio Rice as the suspected killer and say Israel’s murder was a senseless case of mistaken identity. Sebastian and his family anxiously wait for Rice to be brought to justice.
“You never know who’s next,” Sebastian said. “He could shoot up some other person. The same thing that happened to us, it could happen to somebody else.”
A vigil has grown outside Duck River Laundry in Israel’s memory, with people leaving flowers, balloons, and candles. Israel loved basketball and video games his family says. Sebastian cherishes a memory last month when Israel sunk a deep 3-point shot in a game he didn’t know he’d be playing in.
“That one game I had with him at a tournament, I’m never going to forget that,” Sebastian said.
Crimestoppers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are offering a reward for any information that could lead to Rice’s arrest. He is allegedly traveling with his girlfriend Tiffany Taylor, who police say is a person of interest.
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