Melissa Gonzalez FIU Florida International University graduate killed by stray bullet riding in car along Miami Interstate 95 highway. No arrests made.
A recent college graduate and aspiring lawyer has died after being hit by a stray bullet while driving down a Florida highway with her boyfriend, authorities said.
Melissa Gonzalez, 22, was traveling on Interstate 95 in Miami at around 8:30 p.m. on Friday when she was struck in the head by a bullet, according to CBS4 News.
Her boyfriend, Julian Veliz, 26, told cops he heard gunshots coming from a dark colored-car and noticed Gonzalez having been hit.
Alighting from his Chevy Sedan, the distraught boyfriend called for help.
Gonzalez was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she died.
Family seek justice:
Authorities have since launched a manhunt for a possible suspect(s).
She would have turned 23 years old later this month, according to NBC6.
‘Someone unjustly took away her life and shot her,’ Sheila Nunez, the victim’s mother told CBS4. ‘At this moment, I don’t know why.’
The recent graduate of Florida International University (FIU) was working toward her dream of becoming an attorney, her mom said.
Gonzalez was getting ready to take the LSAT and apply to law school, her mother said.
‘I brought her from Cuba when she was 4 years old and everything that I did, I did it for her,’ Nunez said.
Gonzalez’s family is working on getting her father a humanitarian visa so he can come to the US from Cuba and attend her funeral.
Gonzalez’s death marks yet another ongoing casualty as a result of stray bullets and gunfire in the United States.
Investigators have yet to make an arrest.
#UPDATE: Family identifies woman shot while driving on I-95 last night as 22-year-old Melissa Gonzalez. Her mother tells me she had just graduated from FIU last summer and was set to take the LSAT in a few weeks. Police still have no leads on a suspect vehicle. More at 11pm @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/O8fVb8kfc8
— Andrea Martinez (@AndreaNBC6) January 5, 2020
