Melissa Ortega Chicago 8 year old killed by stray bullet in Little Village: Victim had newly emigrated with her mother from Mexico to pursue the American dream.
The American Dream is not for everyone…
An 8-year-old girl was struck and killed by a stray bullet while walking with her mother on a Chicago street over the weekend according to reports.
Melissa Ortega was struck in the head by one of several rounds fired by a male suspect toward a 26-year-old known gang member near the intersection of 26th Street and Pulaski Road in Little Village just before 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The child was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. The target, who was also hit in the hail of gunfire, was left in critical condition.
The girl who was a third-grader at Zapata Academy had only just emigrated to the United States from Mexico with her mother only 3 months ago.
Fear and violence, guns and gangs have no place in this city, and it will take all of us working together to stop it. If you have any information about this senseless crime, please call our anonymous tip line: 833-408-0069. Eligible tips can receive a reward of up to $15,000.
— Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown (@ChiefDavidBrown) January 23, 2022
‘They were both excited to start a new life..’
Witness Oscar Guevara told CBS Chicago that he heard numerous shots before coming to the girl’s aid.
‘I heard the mother screaming for help,’ Guevara told the media outlet.
‘I had [a] cover, and we put it over her to keep her warm. But there was really nothing we could do,’ he said.
‘She tried to get up at one point, and that was the hardest part to see. She tried to get up and she like looked around and she laid back down,’ Guevara said.
Investigators recovered 13 shell casings from the scene.
Ortega and her mother had emigrated from Mexico in August, according to GoFundMe page.
‘They were both excited to start a new life in Chicago and build their American Dream,’ the page’s organizer wrote.
A memorial for the 8-year-old continued to grow as strangers stop by with candles and flowers at the place of her shooting death.
No arrests were made in the case as of early Monday and police have not publicly revealed a motive.
