Police, Relatives Seek Help Finding Teen Girl's Killers
Monday, Mar 15, 2010 | Updated 8:04 AM CST
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A good samaritan tries to help a man and winds up getting robbed by him.
Dallas police asked for public assistance Sunday in locating the killers of a 13-year-old girl.
Police said Maricela Alvarez was an unintended victim of a drive-by shooting Saturday night in the 2800-block of O’Bannon near Interstate 35E and Saner.
Police said the shooting was prompted by an previous argument that took place at the location.
Jovan Hernandez, 14, said he was a witness to both incidents at the house where his grandmother lives.
Hernandez spoke to NBCDFW with his grandmother’s permission.
He said three men he had never seen before drove up to the house early Saturday evening and started shouting from a gold or tan late model Chevrolet Tahoe.
Hernandez said a fight broke out between the visitors and other people at the house.
“It’s because they were disrespecting,” Hernandez said. “I told them to quiet down and not to cuss, but they did it anyway.”
Hernandez said he broke a rear window on the Tahoe with a baseball bat as the men left the first time.
He said Alvaraz was there when the men in the Tahoe returned around 8 p.m. with guns. Hernandez said they were shooting at him, but hit the girl by mistake.
“She had no involvement in this case, in either incident,” said Lt. Craig Miller, with the Dallas Police Department. “What we’re looking for is help locating the Tahoe.”
The girl’s grieving family and friends joined the plea for tips in the case Sunday as they gathered at her home, less than a mile away from where she was killed.
“Everybody that knew her loved Maricela and I hate that she’s gone,” said her aunt, Maria Alvarez.
“Justice needs to be served for her life. And nobody can replace her, you know. She was just innocent and she was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Alvarez said.
Posted Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 - 9:40 PM CST
