‘Praying for a miracle.’ Miami man shot in head during ambush faces grim prognosis.

David Ovalle
·3 min read

The future looked bright for Andy De Leon.

At age 30, he lived in Westchester with his dad and stepmom, but had been saving money to buy his own house next year. He’d recently left a long relationship and was dating again. And he had just earned a certification as a physical therapy assistant, and was supposed to start his first job in the field next week.

“He was so happy,” said his sister, Tatiana De Leon. “He had so many plans for the future. He was so excited and was really working on himself.”

But Andy De Leon is now bedridden at Kendall Regional Medical Center, in a coma, clinging to life after he was ambushed and shot in the head while in a car with a co-worker last week. His prognosis is grim, and supporters have now started a GoFundMe page to help the family as it deals with medical and other bills.

“I’m praying for a miracle,” said Tatiana De Leon, 38. “We have so many people praying for him.”

The suspect, police say, is private security guard Jonathan Clemente, who mistakenly believed that De Leon was dating his ex-girlfriend. Clemente, a guard at a South Miami-Dade private zoo that appeared in the Netflix “Tiger King” series, is now in jail awaiting arraignment on attempted murder charges.

That’s not all — Clemente remains under investigation for the March fatal shooting of his friend, Freddie Cordero, as first reported by the Herald. Clemente, a former U.S. Marine, had been free as police and prosecutors probe his claim that he shot Cordero in self-defense during a confrontation outside a South Miami-Dade home.

De Leon’s family learned of the previous shooting Friday night, when Cordero’s mother, Carolyn Villalobos, visited the hospital to grieve with them. “I wanted to give them a sense of hope,” Villalobos told the Herald, adding: “If he had been put away for murdering my son, [the second shooting] wouldn’t have happened.”

Andy De Leon grew up in Westchester and was a graduate of Southwest High. He worked out at the gym often, listened to self-help recordings and hung out with friends. He also doted over his nephews and his two small dogs, Baby, a black Chihuahua, and Luna, a Yorkie.

“The dogs are really, really sad,” his sister said. “They haven’t seen him.”

De Leon had been working a security guard at the Blue Martini bar in South Miami, where he worked alongside the woman who was also shot last week. His family says that they were not dating, but he had been helping her get through a difficult time — her ex-boyfriend, Clemente, had been harassing her.

Friends told the family that Clemente had even sent threatening texts in recent weeks, mistakenly believing that she and De Leon were in a serious relationship. Police say that Clemente was stalking his ex, and waited outside De Leon’s house on the night of May 19, as the two returned from a night out.

Tatiana De Leon and her brother, Andy De Leon. Andy De Leon, 30, of Westchester, is fighting for his life after he was shot in the head on May 19, 2021.
Tatiana De Leon and her brother, Andy De Leon. Andy De Leon, 30, of Westchester, is fighting for his life after he was shot in the head on May 19, 2021.

The woman recognized Clemente’s car and they tried driving away. That’s when Clemente opened fire, hitting them both, according to police reports. De Leon, wounded in the head, managed to drive to a nearby gas station to await police. Clemente drove off and called 911, turning himself in.

The woman was not seriously wounded and was discharged that night. De Leon, however, suffered a wound to the left side of his head. He was clinically dead when he arrived at the hospital, but doctors worked frantically to revive him.

The bullet destroyed a vertebral artery, cutting off blood flow to the back of his brain. The lack of oxygen led to a series of strokes, Tatiana De Leon said, and doctors have steeled the family for the possibility that he may never wake up.

He may wind up in long-term care, at a facility or possibly at home.

“It’s going to be an extremely long journey,” Tatiana De Leon said. “Months, probably years to come.”

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