Family marks anniversary of Fort Myers boy’s killing

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Friends and family of a 5-year-old boy killed by a bullet from a drive-by shooting gathered Thursday, the two-year anniversary of his death.

Toyetta Simpson, the mother of the slain Andrew Faust Jr., was among those who walked from Roberto Clemente Park down Henderson Avenue to Andrew’s gravesite, where they placed flowers and toys in an effort to keep his memory alive.

“I mean I’m stuck living with this pain until the day that I die,” Simpson said.

Answers about who pulled the trigger remain elusive. The state released two suspects in July 2015 after the prosecution’s lead witness recanted her testimony.

The Fort Myers Police Department said Thursday that the case remains “open and active” but declined to elaborate.

Multiple members of Andrew’s family expressed frustration with a lack of closure and justice for the boy. Simpson said she’s begun to view Andrew’s death in the broader context of a rash of unsolved homicide cases that have plagued Fort Myers.

“It’s more about the injustices and things that are going on in our city right now,” she said.
“There is nothing that can be done for my son right now. For my 5-year-old that’s in a grave.”

Cashae Smith, the witness whose testimony was at the center of the state’s case, initially told authorities that Thomas Dan Edison and Terrance Irons were Andrew’s killers. But she didn’t cooperate with the state attorney’s office, ignored subpoenas, and failed to appear in court multiple times, leading to a warrant for her arrest.

Smith later said she could no longer remember what happened the day Andrew died.