Nine years after brutal double-murder, police need help to find a killer

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Almost a decade after the brutal stabbing of a young mother and her 2-year-old son, police believe they know who held the knife.

On the July 19, 2003 afternoon, when the murders rocked San Remo Avenue, neighbors stood around, shocked.

But nine years later, the street is quiet again.  The formerly white house is repainted tan and orange, and nobody even remembers what happened there, except for the man who lives across the street.

"Nobody even talks about it anymore," explained John Hemmings.  "I didn't expect they'd ever find somebody."

Hemmings remembers watching two-year-old Uriel Martin play outside his home, his 31-year-old mother, Petra, always nearby.

Then, one summer day on his return from the grocery store, Hemming crossed into a crime scene that stood active for over a week. Clearwater Police found Petra's body covered in stab wounds. Uriel, stabbed once, suffered another injury that eventually killed him, though detectives won't reveal what that was.

"I've been doing this job for 21 years and this, by far and away, was the most horrific crime scene I've ever been to," explained Lt. James Kleinsorge.  "This crime requires justice."

A bloody fingerprint and new forensic tools, police say, finally led them to 32-year-old Gilberto Juarez-Hernandez. They don't know his motivation, or his relation to his victims, but they say they do know his tactics were brutal. Police believe he could be anywhere, particularly in Florida, Iowa, or Mexico, and they need the public's help tracking him down.

Little Uriel had just finished cancer treatment when he was killed, not long after his mom moved them from Mexico to the United States in hopes of a better life.

"They both had their whole lives ahead of them," said Lt. Kleinsorge  "Anyone with a heart has got to feel something when it comes to this case, no matter who they are."

Anyone with information about Juarez-Hernandez's whereabouts should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.