MIAMI – A South Florida mother is recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital from a gunshot wound pertaining to a shooting case investigators are trying to crack.
It happened at about 7 p.m. Monday in the area of Northwest 135th Street as she was driving southbound on I-95 with her young son in the black Lexus with her.
The victim’s attorney said she heard what sounded like a firecracker before seeing blood, realizing she had been shot.
“It is amazing that she is able to be alive after what she has been through,” said attorney Willard Shepard. “This bullet did enter her neck but fortunately missed her spine.”
Florida Highway Patrol responded and began investigating as first responders rushed the victim to the hospital. Investigators say she was shot at from another vehicle.
“She has communicated to me that this transpired with vehicles shooting at each other and she was simply caught in the crossfire,” Shepard said.
A bullet hole could be seen piercing the window of the Lexus she was driving.
Luckily, her son was not hurt, and she would tell her attorney it was fortunate she was in an SUV because she believes its height is what saved her life.
“That height differential between the two of them is how she believes the bullet entered her neck and she was not shot in the head and killed,” said Shepard.
Investigators told Local 10 News on Tuesday the suspect vehicle is possibly a white Honda sedan, but the events leading up to the shooting, who was firing at her direction and why, remain unclear.
“We are looking for the vehicle that is the vehicle that we think shot at (the victim),” said Shepard. “We are hoping that someone may have seen a tag, may have seen the vehicle.”
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
RENEWED CALL FOR I-95 TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Much like the family of I-95 murder victim Melissa Gonzalo – a 2020 case that remains unsolved – this case victim’s family has expressed an interest in adding traffic cameras to the interstate, which could aid law enforcement.
“The technology is certainly there to make sure that we have these traffic cameras, and now this situation on I-95 is just one further incident to be able to add more of those types of cameras in, to be able to protect our community, and when it is needed to be used by our law enforcement agencies,” said Shepard.
Back in 2021, the Florida Department of Transportation told Local 10 News’ Christina Vazquez the live real-time traffic monitoring cameras help first responders with situational awareness.
FDOT also said the, “traffic monitoring cameras are generally very high in the air and do not have a stationary 360-degree view, meaning they are pointed in one direction at a time, typically based on the specific traffic incident needs at that time,” adding that while the CCTV cameras do monitor live real-time traffic with information often shared with law enforcement partners, recording would be “inefficient” and “administering and storing these videos would require additional resources as well as increased bandwidth and storage requirements, all of which would need to be budgeted for by the appropriate agency.”