A 10-year-old girl has been shot dead by a stray bullet just as her family lit the sky ablaze with fireworks to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Florida, say officials.
Yaneliz Munguia was struck by a bullet in the back of the head after “celebratory gunfire” erupted in the early hours of Wednesday at a home in Allapattah, said the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Police said the young girl suddenly collapsed at the property which prompted her parents to examine her for injuries.
When they discovered a wound to the back of her head they frantically called 911, police explained in a statement.
Hialeah Fire Rescue responded to the incident and the young girl was rushed to the Jackson Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
An investigation is now underway to find the person responsible for the shooting.
Miami-Dade police said the “bullet [was] fired into the air from an unknown location by an unknown subject.”
Yaneliz had only just turned 10 years old days before her death.
“Every time I came over, she was always happy to see me and now I can’t bear to enter their home and not be able to see her again. It hurts my soul,” Ramon Valdizon, her grandfather, told CBS News.
He struggled to hold back tears as he spoke of how difficult it was to explain to Yaneliz’s younger brother that she was no longer alive.
Her father told NBC6 on Thursday: “She was the most beautiful. I’ll never have another like her.”
Police are now seeking the public’s help to bring justice for Yaneliz and her family and have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
“This heartbreaking incident serves as a devastating reminder that what goes up must come down. Bullets fired into the air can take innocent lives”, the department wrote on Facebook on New Year’s Day.
Anyone with information can contact Miami-Dade & The Florida Keys Crime Stoppers at (305) 471 – 8477 or by dialing **TIPS.
