MIAMI – The family of Melissa Gonzalez and Miami-Dade detectives are hoping the community can come together to help find the person responsible for her death.
Gonzalez’s murder remains an unsolved case four years later, and her family’s grief is matched only by a resolve to help police find the shooter.
Gonzalez, a Florida International University graduate and aspiring lawyer, was driving down I-95 south near the Northwest 79th Street exit with her boyfriend on Jan. 3, 2020, when a bullet pierced the car, striking and killing her.
She was 22 at the time of her passing.
Miami-Dade County Police believe Gonzalez was hit by a stray bullet stemming from gunfire along Northwest 83rd Street, which runs parallel to I-95.
A man who was on a road nearby but didn’t want to share his identity told Local 10 News that he heard the gunfire that night.
“It was like eight shots,” he said. “It was a handgun.”
“We know that night was this car here, this black car, in this area,” Nuñez said.
Detective Juan Segovia said: “We were able to pull surveillance footage from nearby businesses that depicts a vehicle and some individuals fleeing the area from where the shots originated.”
If you take a good look at the video, you can see someone jumping into that car.
Years later, Sheilla Nuñez, Gonzalez’s mother, solemnly places colorful bouquets of flowers near the highway where her daughter was shot and killed.
Darvin Leon, a family friend, translated Nuñez’s emotion of what she continues to go through.
“It has been hell from day one,” Leon said on her behalf. “I know that from heaven she has given me a sign that eventually, I will find the person responsible.”
The family is pleading for witnesses and community members who recognize that person or the car of interest to find the courage to call police.
Miami-Dade police have not confirmed or denied if there is now a “person of interest” but do say this remains an open and active investigation.
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. Callers can also choose to remain anonymous. There is a $7,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.