SOUTH MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating after a pregnant mother of two was found shot dead on top of a picnic table at a South Miami-Dade park.
Miami-Dade Police responded to a medical call near the Chapman Partnership Homeless Shelter located near Southwest 282nd Street and 126th Court at approximately 8:30 a.m., Wednesday.
Police said children on the way to school found the woman’s partially-clothed body lying on a picnic table.
Once police arrived, the responding officers found a woman dead on the scene.
“I heard my neighbor screaming hysterically,” neighbor Cellita Ceran said.
Family members of the victim identified the woman as 21-year-old Kerica Nelson.
Sonya Williams, Nelson’s aunt, said her niece was a family person.
“She’s just always been that person that loves family. She loved her family,” Williams said. “She was a very caring young lady. When it came to her kids, she was very supportive. She was a great mother.”
She was eight months pregnant and a mother of two small children.
“She didn’t deserve this,” Elvira Miller, Nelson’s friend, said. “She was a sweet person, and she did not deserve to be shot.”
Amya Harris lived with Nelson at the shelter and said she last saw her around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Harris said, “How could you even live with yourself knowing that you did something like that?”
7SkyForce HD flew over the scene where a yellow tarp covering a body could be seen on top of a picnic table.
Detectives could be seen investigating the shooting while onlooking family members stood nearby.
“It’s our day, but tomorrow, it could be yours, and keeping secrets and trying to protect other people for something that is so violent that has happened here today, it’s sad, and we’re just asking for someone to please say something,” Williams said.
Nelson’s sister and other family members could be seen lighting candles and praying Wednesday night where her fallen sibling was found.
“God, we wish justice will be wrong right now because it’s not fair how a mother of two kids and pregnant to die for no reason,” she said.
If you have any information on this homicide, call 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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