DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - The family of 22-year-old Melissa Gonzalez, who was shot on Interstate 95 and later died from her injuries, are making a plea to the public to find the gunman who took her life too soon.
Sheilla Nunez, Gonzalez’s mother, was visibly distraught as she pleaded to the public during a press conference at the Miami-Dade Police Department for any information regarding the shooting to help bring her daughter’s gunman to justice.
Nunez said that she was on her way to the hospital with her boyfriend in the passenger seat to see her ailing grandfather on Jan. 3 when she was struck by a bullet as she was driving south of I-95.
“If you know about something, please!” Nunez cried. “You can call the police, you can come to me, you can call any person, please!”
As she was exiting off somewhere around Northwest 79th Street, Gonzalez got shot from out of nowhere, and her boyfriend took the wheel, pulled the car over to call 911 and waited on the side of the road until first responders arrived.
Paramedics rushed Gonzalez to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
“She was such a good girl. The young man next to me was her first boyfriend,” Nunez said through a translator. “All she ever did was study the moment she woke up. She had just graduated from FIU in July.”
Gonzalez was an aspiring law student with her whole life in front of her. Her family said she was loved by all and had plans to go to law school.
“Maybe it was an accident, I don’t know. Maybe it was unintentional,” Nunez said. “She didn’t have any enemies. I know whoever did this, it was unintentional.”
No arrests have been made as police could not find any subjects with a motive.
However, they are looking for a dark-colored four-door sedan with dark rims that may possibly be connected to the unthinkable and improbable killing.
“I’m begging for that person to come forward,” Nunez said through sobs. “I want that person to say, ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry.’ I just want to see their face because they took my entire life.”
“There’s no doubt, no doubt whatsoever those people out there have some information about this case,” Miami-Dade Police officer Juan Segovia said. “It’s a very populated area, people talk, people have significant others, people have family members. Somebody out there knows who committed this heinous murder.”
Police have ruled out road rage and don’t believe that Gonzalez was targeted.
“Help me, there has to be a mother, a brother, a son, a father, a boyfriend out there protecting whoever did this,” Nunez said. “Someone has to have seen something, someone must know something. Please, in the memory of my daughter, come forward.”
In addition to finding the shooter, investigators also want to know why someone was firing a gun on the highway in the first place.
If you have any information regarding this shooting, call Miami-Dade Police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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