West Dade Salon Shooting Witness Still Haunted
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A witness to the West Dade salon shooting says she can't erase the images of destruction from that nightmare of a Saturday.
"I see the two bodies on the floor, full of blood," said Grace de Jesus.
De Jesus first knew something was wrong Saturday afternoon when her customer – who had just come from stylist Nina Garcia's suite – said Garcia and her boyfriend Sergeuy Linares had been arguing over their breakup and that he threatened to kill her.
"The customer tell her, please call the police and she said no," said de Jesus. "She's thinking he's not gonna do anything."
But witnesses said 32-year-old Linares then stormed out of Salon Beauty Suites at 8315 W. Flagler Street and smashed the side mirrors on Garcia's SUV.
CLICK HERE to watch Natalia Zea's report
Ten minutes later, Linares came back and witnesses heard multiple shots.
"My customer say, don't tell me he killing, he killing he killing. And I said 'oh my god.' We hugging, nervous, trying to do what I have to do," said de Jesus.
"What did you do?" asked CBS4's Natalia Zea.
"I closed the door, the curtain and turned off the light," de Jesus responded.
So did fellow stylist Joel Gallo.
"We closed the door, we waited here with our clients," said Gallo, who brought his customers to the back of his suite where they all hit the floor.
Police said after shooting Garcia multiple times, critically injuring her, Linares took his own life.
Now, de Jesus can't stop thinking if things could have turned out differently had Garcia taken her customer's advice.
"She got time to call the police and she didn't do it because she used to live a life with him," de Jesus said.
Garcia is in critical condition at Kendall Regional Medical Center. Her longtime friend and neighbor told Zea that she is on life support.
Garcia has a son who in his early 20s, who now has to cope with a violent attack on his mother at her own salon.
