‘Tell me what happened’: Family of woman killed in Wynwood cop shooting seeks answers
To understand Evelyn Valdes and her impact on the South Florida community, her family says all you need to do is take a look at the funeral’s expansive guest list.
Over 350 loved ones stuffed themselves through the doors of Memorial Plan Branam Funeral Home & Crematory’s doors in Homestead last month to celebrate the life of the 28-year-old social worker, who was shot dead in a police-involved shooting on June 14. When the building reached capacity, they stood somberly in its parking lot under a midday sun.
Weeks later, a handful of Valdes’ close friends and family would gather again in a Kendall hotel ballroom, this time to demand answers.
“My sister was very important, not just to my family, but many, many families, too,” her brother, Jose Valdes, told reporters at a family plea and press conference held at the Marriott Dadeland. “We’re all going to stand together until we get the answers that we’re looking for and the justice she deserves. My sister would’ve fought tooth and nail for anybody else.”
It’s been six weeks since Valdes has passed, but her loss is still fresh to her family, who has received little to no information from investigators on what exactly happened the night of the shooting. As they press authorities for more information on the specifics of her murder, they’re asking community members to help fill in the blanks of that grimnight.
“We deserve to have more answers ... I just need them to reach out and tell me something. Tell me what happened,” Valdes mother, Kristy Garcia, said with tears in her eyes.
Caught in the crossfire
Valdes was shot dead in the predawn hours of June 14 along Northwest First Court and 23rd Street, a club-lined intersection in Wynwood, after being caught in the crossfire between an armed man and officers.
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Around 3 a.m., Miami Police responded to the man, later identified as Norman Lindo Jr. by family members on social media, and confronted him before “shots were fired,” spokesperson Officer Mike Vega told the Herald. Lindo was hit, and so was Valdes, who had just wrapped up a belated 28th birthday celebration and was stuck in a friend’s car in a gridlocked intersection when the gunfire began.
Both were rushed to Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center where they were later pronounced dead.
Whether Valdes was killed by police gunfire or the armed man is still unclear as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the lead agency for police-involved shootings, continues to investigate.
Valdes’ family friend, who was in the car when gunfire rang out and has chosen to remain anonymous, vividly remembers the chilling moments leading up to her death.
“We see two guys, we see them arguing, and we see people running,” she described seeing from the passenger seat while Evelyn sat behind her, in the rear right, both stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. “We try to gun the car, someone jumps [in front] ... the moment we stop the vehicle, we duck and the shots ring out.”
According to her, Valdes and the group arrived in Wynwood an hour before the shooting for a celebratory dinner and drinks. A photo of the car the friends rode in shared by the family’s lawyer, Angelo Martin, shows it was a blue SUV that sustained two shots, one to the backseat right and one to the passenger side. The family friend says her leg was grazed by one bullet while the other struck Valdes in the torso.
“[We asked] is everyone okay, is everyone okay? ... [Evelyn] was like, ‘I got hit,” she remembered. “That was the last thing I heard Evelyn tell me.”
Details after paramedics whisked Valdes away are scarce, her friend says, as no one was allowed to ride with her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was later pronounced dead. According to Valdes’ mom, who rushed to the medical center after being called by the friend, she was denied visitation and didn’t see her daughter again until her funeral.
Authorities refusal to share information hasn’t let up over a month later.
Miami Police has denied releasing surveillance and body camera footage, photographs and an investigative file to the Miami Herald and the Valdes family lawyer, Angelo Martin, while the case remains an “open murder investigation.” Approved requests for 911 audio recordings have yet to be granted and a heavily redacted incident report reveals little on what happened the night of her murder.
It’s led the family to take investigative matters into their own hands, with Martin and a private investigator scouring surveillance footage from nearby businesses, fuzzy dispatch audio from first responders and, now, asking witnesses to come forward with any information they have.
We’ve received very little information from the investigating agencies ... we do need the community’s help,” said the attorney. “At this point, we’re going to ask that anyone who was in Wynwood that night, anyone with photos, videos, social media, posts, witness statements, any information ... come forward.”
A daughter remembered and loved
When asked by reporters, “Who was Evelyn?”, no family or friend’s face failed to light up. The answer was unanimous: She was the light in every room she walked in.
According to the Valdes’, Evelyn loved the ocean, had a sharp sense of humor and had recently come to the Christian faith. Each Christmas, she was considered the “Santa Claus” of her family for how she showed up on many loved ones’ doorsteps with gifts. To her family — who knew her as “Titi Evelyn” or “Nana” for how she doted on children — she spearheaded many academic firsts.
Raised in South Miami-Dade, Valdes was the first in her household to earn a high school diploma, graduating from Homestead’s Medical Academy for Science and Technology in 2015, and the first to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree, both in social work from Barry University near Miami Shores. After graduating, she took a job with Kristi House Children’s Advocacy Center, a nonprofit for child victims of sex abuse and trafficking, and later became a social worker at Baptist Hospital.
READ MORE: ‘She showed me how to love.’ Family wants answers after Wynwood shooting death
“She is watching over all of us now pulling the strings to help us all achieve all we’ve been fighting for,” said Jose, addressing those who’ve advocated for Valdes. “All your hard will pay off. The real celebration of life will be when we finally get justice for her.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM.
