DALLAS — A young girl was hanging out with friends Saturday night, but their simple evening was shattered by gunfire.
Maricela Alvarez, 13, was caught in the crossfire.
The attack by a group of men in a Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle left shattered glass, blown-out car windows and bullet holes at the home in the 2800 block of Obannon Drive in Oak Cliff.
Jenny Rosas and her friends started running, but a bullet hit Maricela in the head.
"I am going to miss her, because she was close to me... she was real close to me," Jenny said.
Maricela, the innocent victim of a deadly drive-by shooting, was an eighth grader at Boude Storey Middle School.
"Maricela, she was the life. She loves to dance. She loves to take pictures," said the victim's aunt, who did not want to be identified.
Family members said the girl ran away from home after school on Friday. "She was trying to fit, like all kids do," Maricela's aunt said. "Trying to fit in with people they were not supposed to."
Her family wanted her home. They called her cell phone, but she didn't answer.
On Saturday, they finally got a call saying Maricela Alvarez would never come home.
"Every time you would see her, she always wanted to hug you and she would just come up to you," her aunt said. "Now, we can't do that no more."
Investigators said the victim's friends and the suspects got into a fight in front of the house before the shooting. The cause of the altercation was not known. Police were checking leads, but still had made no arrests late Sunday.
"Please; you all seen what happened," said Maricela's tearful aunt in a public appeal for help. "Come forward; let them know who did this so they can get them."
And the victim's aunt had this message for parents: "Talk to your children. Be very involved, please let them know they don't have to end up like this."
Call the Dallas Police Department or your local law enforcement agency if you have any information about this case.
The North Texas Crime Commission also has a confidential online tip information system available in English and Spanish for anyone who wants to supply information.
E-mail mdiaz@wfaa.com
