A Jacksonville family is devastated at the loss of their 7-year-old daughter.
PHOTOS: Jacksonville 7-year-old girl shot, killed by stray bullet
Heidy Rivas-Villanueva was waiting in the car with her father and sibling in a strip mall on Jacksonville's Westside on Saturday evening when she was shot.
Here’s a look at the memorial for 7-year-old Heydi Rivas-Villanueva. It was created in the area of the strip mall where the shooting happened on Saturday. Right now JSO is still looking for two persons of interest in this case. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/QbFFGGer0K
— Courtney Cole (@CourtneyANJax) August 13, 2018
Action News Jax's Courtney Cole spoke to the girl's father. Like many parents, he wanted more for his child than he had, so he brought her to this country for a better life.
He said Heidy had many dreams, but now that they’ve been taken away, he feels destroyed.
"I’m asking for justice … and that my daughter’s death isn’t left unpunished. She was a baby."
Heidy Rivas-Villanueva was killed Saturday after getting caught in the crossfire between gunmen at a strip mall on 103rd Street.
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She was waiting in the car with her father and sibling while her mother went into the store.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is still actively working to the find the persons of interest in this case, so we’re not showing his face for his protection.
“It’s going to be hard to live with this I’m going to need time to recover.”
The pain was just too much to bear. Her father broke down in tears as he explained his final moments with his daughter.
“I loved my daughter I was with her until the last second of her life. She died in my arms when we were on the way to the hospital,” he said.
JSO has surveillance circulating that shows two men, one in a red shirt and one in a white shirt. They believe these are the persons of interest.
“If the law doesn’t punish them, God will; they took the life of an innocent angel who had her whole life ahead of her,” he said.
While her father believes she’s in a better place, he still has one final wish for his daughter.
"I’m going to send her to my country [of Honduras] because that way I can leave flowers on her grave. [Because] I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it here.”
Villanueva's family is trying to raise money so they'll be able to have a funeral for her in her native country of Honduras: https://www.gofundme.com/5ycvzyg
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
If you know anything about the shooting, you're urged to call the Crimestoppers Hotline at 866-845-TIPS. (And remember, you can remain anonymous.) https://t.co/JrfXkaiGDw
— Courtney Cole (@CourtneyANJax) August 13, 2018
Cox Media Group
