John Jefferson
Yanelis Munguia (GoFundMe).
Police in Florida are looking for the person responsible for firing the celebratory gunshot in the air at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day that killed a 10-year-old girl in Miami.
According to Miami-Dade police, the girl, Yanelis Munguia, and her family were out celebrating in the area of NW 27 Avenue and NW 21 Street when she suddenly collapsed minutes after midnight on New Year’s Day. Family members rushed to her aid, and realized she had a gunshot wound to the back of her head. They put her in the back of a car and started to look for a hospital while calling 911.
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Hialeah Fire Rescue met the victim’s family in the area of Palm Avenue and West Third Street and rushed the girl to Jackson Ryder Trauma Center where doctors pronounced her dead.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share the tragic loss of a 10-year-old girl, who was killed due to celebratory gunfire on New Years Day near NW 27 Avenue and NW 21 Street in Miami,” police said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “This heartbreaking incident serves as a devastating reminder that what goes up must come down. Bullets fired into the air can take innocent lives.”
It is with deep sorrow that we share the tragic loss of a 10-year-old girl, who was killed due to celebratory gunfire on New Years Day near NW 27 Avenue and NW 21 Street in Miami.
This heartbreaking incident serves as a devastating reminder that what goes up must come down. … pic.twitter.com/iW6WNOCnIA
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) January 1, 2025
Yanelis had just celebrated her 10th birthday on Dec. 26. The family shared a video with local media of her playing with sparklers alongside her 6-year-old brother.
“I don’t want what happened to my granddaughter to happen to anyone else,” Ramon Valdizon, the victim’s grandfather, told local ABC affiliate WSVN.
Cops are still trying to figure out who fired the shot and where it came from. Police expressed frustration that anyone would fire a gun in the air, knowing it could end in tragedy.
“We speak time and time again every New Year’s about the fact that what goes up must come down and this is a prime example of the dangers of shooting a firearm indiscriminately into the air,” Miami-Dade police Det. Andre Martin told NBC affiliate WTVJ. “We have a 10-year-old girl who lost her life at the beginning of the year, we have two parents, a mother and a father, who are now planning a funeral for their daughter to start their year off.”
Valdizon said in the interview with WSVN his daughter, Yanelis’ mother, “blames herself for what happened.” The family home will never be the same.
“I cannot stand to go in that house and not see her again,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers Miami at 305-471-8477. Yanelis’ family is raising money for her funeral.
Tragically, it wasn’t the only death via celebratory gunfire in the Sunshine State. In Central Florida, Kissimmee police also responded to a report of a gunshot victim shortly after midnight Wednesday. First responders rushed her to the hospital where she died. Police identified the victim as 56-year-old Carmen Rosa Neira Ochoa.
Her family told Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL she was a mother and grandmother.
“She didn’t do anything to anyone. She was a hardworking mother,” her son-in-law Alex Marquez told the TV station. “I just want to raise awareness to people out there celebrating don’t shoot guns. They don’t know what family they can hurt.”
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