Police get new lead on who shot, killed FIU grad on I-95. Have you seen this car?
Everyone says Melissa Gonzalez was the perfect daughter.
The 22-year-old had recently graduated from Florida International University and was days away from taking the law school entrance exam. She studied every day, had a part-time job as a CVS pharmacy technician and was always with her family. She also had a loving boyfriend.
Her future looked bright — until someone shot and killed her while she was driving south on Interstate 95 near Northwest 79th Street in Miami last week. She was on her way to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach to visit her sick grandfather.
“I’m on my way,” she had texted her grandmother before getting in the car.
She never made it.
A week after the shooting, investigators believe they have a new lead.
It’s a still photo of a dark colored vehicle with dark wheels. Detectives found it while combing through surveillance cameras in the area — and they’re hoping the person or people who were inside the car know what happened.
Gonzalez’s grieving family is pleading for help. So are her friends. A reward of up to $3,000 is being offered for information that could help find her killer.
“I don’t even know how I have strength to come here,” her devastated mother Sheilla Nunez told a crowd of reporters in a small room at Miami-Dade County’s Police’s headquarters Friday morning. “I can’t sleep, I don’t have peace. My life and my younger daughter’s life is ruined... I want to see their face. I want to see their face. They’ve ruined my life.”
Police say Gonzalez and her boyfriend Julian Veliz, 26, were on their way to the hospital around 8:30 p.m. last Friday when a bullet whizzed in through one of the car’s passenger windows and struck Gonzalez, who was behind the wheel. Veliz grabbed the steering wheel and the car eventually came to a stop against the median. Veliz then called for help.
Gonzalez later died at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
It wasn’t road rage, said Det. Juan Segovia. Based on the current investigation, police say it’s highly unlikely that they were targeted but they aren’t completely taking it off the table.
Was it a stray bullet?
Detectives are still trying to figure it out. It’s unclear if it was intentional, Segovia said.
Police have no motive and no suspects, but they do have the picture of the car, which they say was found driving within a three-block radius of the shooting.
Nunez, with members of her family standing behind her, begged the community to help them find her daughter’s killer. Veliz, who sat next to her, stayed mostly quiet and often broke down, sometimes translating what she said into English and also asking for help.
“I’m scared. I’m scared to go out on the street. I’m scared for my other daughter to go to school, “ Nunez said in Spanish at the conference. “I will not rest. I want to die but I can’t because I have to take care of your sister.”
Not much else is known about the attack.
Detectives won’t say how many bullets struck Gonzalez and her car or which direction the bullets came from.
Veliz has previously said he saw a dark-colored vehicle. He also said the bullet came from the back of the car, Gonzalez’s mother told the Miami Herald during a phone call Thursday.
Witnesses who were driving on the interstate or were in the area told police they heard as many as 10 shots.
Gonzalez’s family hasn’t yet set funeral plans yet. They’re waiting to see if Sen. Marco Rubio’s office can secure a humanitarian visa for Gonzalez’s father, who lives in Cuba, so he can attend.
Who was Melissa Gonzalez?
Gonzalez, a Miami Beach resident, has lived most of her life in South Florida. She came to Miami from Cuba at age four with her mother. She went to Nautilus Middle School and Miami Beach Senior High.
Friends and family say she was hardworking, studious and “vibrant.”
“She was like my sister,” said Ceylin Arias, Gonzalez’s best friend since middle school. “She was unica. She was unique.”
The 22-year-old loved singing, acting and traveling. She auditioned for an America Teve music competition years ago, Nunez said. Most recently, she was waiting to hear back from a Disney casting call.
Her dream was to practice family law. She also wanted to be a mother one day.
Gonzalez graduated from Florida International University in summer 2019 with a bachelor of arts in psychology and had completed a second major in interdisciplinary studies. She was also a member of FIU’s chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.
Gonzalez would have taken the LSAT Monday, Jan. 13
Her graduation is still set as her Facebook’s profile photo. It shows a smiling Gonzalez — in her cap and gown — standing next to Veliz, who she had been dating for slightly more than a year. He was the “love of her life,” Arias said during a phone call Wednesday.
The last photos she shared with her more than 5,000 Instagram followers were on Dec. 29 at Mango’s Tropical Cafe in Miami Beach. Another batch of pictures posted a week earlier showed Gonzalez, her younger sister and Veliz wearing matching Christmas onesies.
The couple was planning to visit New York this month to celebrate Gonzalez’s birthday. She would have turned 23 on Jan. 27.
“I’ll spend my whole life crying,” her mother said.
Arias, Gonzalez’s best friend, feels like her other half is missing. Gonzalez’s nine-year-old-sister is devastated and has begun imitating her study habits. She gets home, says “mom, I have to study,” and goes straight to the kitchen counter, Nunez said.
“There is no doubt there are people out there who know what happened,” said Segovia, the detective. “Be a hero. If you’re a human being with a heart... pick up the phone.”
A GoFundMe page created by the family to help pay for Gonzalez’s funeral expenses has raised more than $14,000 since it was created Monday. Those interested in donating can visit www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-melissa?utm_source
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Detective J. Segovia at 305-471-2400.
Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or visit CrimeStoppers305.com and click “Submit a Tip.” You may be eligible for a reward if your information helps police make an arrest.
