Teen targeted, killed while working at Dallas Church's Chicken restaurant, family says

A teenage boy is dead following a shooting at a fast-food restaurant in South Dallas, and his family is devastated as police search for the gunman responsible.

Elizabeth Benitez set up a memorial inside her house for her son, 17-year-old Marcos Villanueva. Family surrounds her for support, but the pain is still fresh. Benitez speaks mostly Spanish, so a close cousin talked to NBC 5 about how the family is holding up.

"You just see something like that, and you just don't expect it. I didn't know how to react," said Cynthia Arroyo Benitez.

The fatal shooting happened at about 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Church's Chicken in the 4600 block of Scyene Road.

Dallas Police said when they arrived at the restaurant, they found Villanueva suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite emergency personnel using life-saving measures, the teen ultimately died from his injuries.

"It just threw me by surprise because I never expected him of all people," said Arroyo Benitez.

Police confirmed with NBC 5 that Villanueva was shot inside the restaurant, where he died at the scene. Family members said they were told Villanueva was working in the kitchen when the gunman walked in and asked for him by name before shooting him. They cannot think of who would want to harm him.

"He wasn't really a troublemaker," said Arroyo Benitez. "We didn't really hear anything throughout the family bad or of him doing things he shouldn't be doing, for someone to just take his life like it's nothing."

Arroyo Benitez said her cousin was a normal teenager who worked and helped his mother with his siblings.

"I really hope they find who did it. I hope we get justice for my cousin because I know it would bring my aunt a lot of peace," she said.

Police are still looking for the shooter and have not released details about the suspect's description.

Anyone with information is asked to call Dallas Police Detective Reed at 469-597-9332 or jelisa.reed@dallaspolice.gov.