A recent college grad was shot dead while driving on I-95. Cops are looking for her killer.
Melissa Gonzalez recently graduated from FIU and was days away from taking the law school entrance exam. She was with her boyfriend on Friday night, driving on Interstate 95 in Miami.
Out of nowhere, a bullet came whizzing into the car. She was shot. Her boyfriend took the controls of the car, pulled over and called for help.
Gonzalez, 22, was mortally wounded.
Did a stray bullet kill her? Was her car a target? Police aren’t saying what happened in the southbound lanes of I-95 near Northwest 79th Street.
Her grieving family is pleading for help. A reward of up to $3,000 is being offered for information that could help find her killer.
“Someone unjustly took away her life and shot her. At this moment, I don’t know why,” her mother Sheilla Nunez told Miami Herald news partner CBS4. “She had her exam on the 13th. I brought her from Cuba when she was 4 years old and everything that I did, I did it for her.”
Her family is also working to secure a humanitarian visa for her father José González Fernández, who lives in Cuba, so he can attend her funeral.
“I’m destroyed. I cannot explain because there are no words,” he told Telemundo 51 in Spanish. “I would want the United States government to understand my sad situation and allow me to obtain a visa, even if it is for two days, so I can be with my daughter and give her my final goodbye.”
A spokeswoman for Sen. Marco Rubio’s office confirmed to the Miami Herald that they are aware of the request and have been in contact with the family since Sunday night.
Gonzalez, a Miami Beach resident, has lived most of her life in South Florida. She came to Miami from Cuba at age 4 with her mother and later graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School.
She then 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.
Her graduation is still set as her Facebook’s profile photo. It shows a smiling Gonzalez — in her cap and gown — standing next to her boyfriend Julian Veliz.
Gonzalez’s public Instagram feed is filled with smiling photos — sometimes alone, other times with Veliz, friends or family. Her saved Instagram Stories recap her travels to places such as Tennessee, Paris and London.
The last photos she shared with her more than 5,000 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.
Less than a week after posting about her night at Mango’s, she was struck by the bullet while driving on southbound I-95 near 79th Street around 8:30 p.m. Friday. Her boyfriend was in the passenger seat.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you... I’m still in complete shock and I can’t believe you’re gone ... rest in peace Melissa, I will cherish every moment I spent with you,” one of her friends commented on the post a day after the shooting.
“Your smile will be missed Mel. I had the greatest pleasure of going to high school with you and you were an angel RIP,” another friend wrote.
Her mother told various local TV stations that Gonzalez’s LSAT exam was scheduled for Jan. 13. She would have celebrated her 23rd birthday later this month.
She “was my life,” an anguished Nunez told Local 10 in Spanish Monday. “That was my child ... They took her from me.”
After Gonzalez was shot, her boyfriend Veliz, 26, managed to steer her silver Chevrolet sedan to the side of the road, said Lt. Alejandro Camacho, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol.
“He gains control and manages to pull over and calls 911,” Camacho said.
Gonzalez was then taken to the hospital by Miami Fire Rescue, where she was pronounced dead.
Veliz told troopers he believed the bullet came from a dark-colored sedan, though law enforcement is investigating to see if it was a random shot.
Camacho said witnesses are being interviewed. They are people who were near the shooting scene and who heard about it and contacted law enforcement.
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
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 6:27 AM.
