Nikki McNabb is still coming to grips with the tragic death of her son, 15-year old Giovanni Diaz.  Gio, as she called him, was beaten to death with a baseball bat in his Lake Wales neighborhood in March.

More than six months have passed and she finally allowed her younger son, Elijah, to take a walk with some friends to the local convenience store. Lightning almost struck twice.

McNabb was at work when she learned a man in a pickup truck gunned the engine and swerved at the group of teenagers. She told her boss she had to leave and raced back home.  

“As a mom, after all of this happened with Gio, and now this with Elijah, I felt like I’m not able to protect my son the way I’m supposed to,” said McNabb, who called the sheriff’s office while on her way to the scene.  

“I couldn’t even talk to her, I couldn’t get my words straight.”

What McNabb didn’t know initially, the man behind the wheel of that pickup truck was 38-year-old Paul Murray.  

Murray is Dillon Murray’s father, the teenager who’s accused of killing McNabb’s son Gio.

“That made is worse,” said McNabb. “That made it ten times worse.”

18-year old Ben Rhoades was also in the group and saw the pickup truck barreling towards them.  

“I was sincerely afraid,” said Rhoades. “I thought I was going to get hit.”

Polk County sheriff’s deputies responded and took statements from the victims and arrested the elder Murray.  

He now faces five charges of aggravated assault without the intent to kill and a single charge of driving without a valid license.

Reached at his home, Murray said he couldn’t talk about the case right now, but felt he is being “railroaded.”

McNabb is now concerned for her son’s safety and the safety of her entire family.  

Murray posted bond shortly after the incident.  

What if he tried this again, she wonders?  

“In all honesty, I feel like the county is failing us,” said McNabb. “We have called for patrols and we haven’t seen any.”

Brian Bruchey is a spokesman for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and says there are increased patrols in the area.  

“Of course we’re going to try to be in that area anyway, because of the history,” said Bruchey who is also encouraging neighbors to get involved.

“If somebody sees something that’s about ready to go bad, call us, 911, get us down there right away.”