An adorable 10-year-old girl was killed outside her Florida home after she was struck in the head by a stray bullet believed to have been fired in celebration of the New Year.
Yanelis Munuguia, who had just celebrated her 10th birthday on December 26, was ringing in the New Year with family when she was struck in the head by the stray bullet around 12:04 am on Wednesday.
The innocent child immediately collapsed to the ground outside of her family’s home on the 2100 block of Northwest 27th Avenue in Allapattah, sending the family into a panic.
Her parents noticed a gunshot wound on the back of little Yanelis’ head.
Now frantic, amidst a lively New Year’s Eve celebration outside their home. The family put the girl into a car with the intent of driving her to the hospital and called 911.
Hialeah Fire Rescue eventually intercepted the family and took Yanelis to Jackson Ryder Trauma Center, where she pronounced dead.
‘Shooting a gun into the sky has consequences. Who paid? A little girl,’ Yanelis’ family member, Carlos Gutierrez, said through tears.
‘What did the girl do? Nothing. What fault did she have? But that’s the way things are.’
Yanelis Munuguia, 10, was ringing in the New Year with her family when she was struck in the head by a stray bullet around 12:04 am on Wednesday
The innocent child immediately collapsed to the ground outside of her family’s home on the 2100 block of Northwest 27th Avenue in Allapattah
Miami-Dade Police believe the unidentified person who fired the shot could have been shooting wildly into the air to celebrate the start of 2025.
‘We speak time and time again every new year about the fact that what goes up must come down,’ Detective Andre Martin told CBS News.
‘This is a prime example of the dangers of shooting a firearm indiscriminately into the air. We have a 10-year-old girl who lost her life at the beginning of the year.’
The grief-stricken family is now grappling with planning a funeral of the child and struggling to explain to her 7-year-old brother that his older sister is gone.
‘Every time I came over, she was always happy to see me and now I can’t bear to enter their home and not be able to see her again,’ Yanelis’ grandfather, Ramon Valdizon, said.
‘It hurts my soul. I cannot stand to go in that house and not see her again.’ he said.
The family has since set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of the young girl’s funeral expenses.
Her funeral is scheduled for January 11.
Yanelis Munuguia had just celebrated her 10th birthday on December 26
‘Every time I came over, she was always happy to see me and now I can’t bear to enter their home and not be able to see her again,’ Yanelis’ grandfather, Ramon Valdizon, said. ‘It hurts my soul. I cannot stand to go in that house and not see her again’
‘It is a great loss and it’s a disgrace that a 10-year-old girl was killed by this bullet,’ a family member told CBS News.
‘You can only imagine how the parents are feeling and the family. A moment of joy turns into a tragedy.
‘The public needs to be aware that you can not do these things. I’m encouraging people if you know something, say something.’
Miami-Dade Police are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
