Police Identify Victim Of Westchester Shopping Center Shooting
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WESTCHESTER (CBSMiami) – Family friends have stepped forward to take care of a 15-year-old girl whose mother was shot and killed Tuesday night at the Westchester shopping center in what police say was a murder-suicide attempt.
CBS4 was inside a courtroom at the Juvenile Justice Courthouse when the girl was brought to court for a shelter hearing. Circuit Judge Alan Fine conferred with her and gave custody to a couple whose own daughter knows the 15-year-old girl: Jorge Delgado and Ania Martinez.
Delgado and Martinez came forward because there were no other family members present who could care for the girl. Judge Fine agreed that the girl should receive immediate grief counseling. He said there would be another hearing on February 2nd.
Outside the courthouse, Delgado told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that he could not say anything right now.
"No, not right now. Not right now," he said. "The situation is very tense."
Click here to watch Lauren Pastrana's report.
Ania Martyinez also declined to comment as they left with the 15-year-old girl. The couple told D'Oench that the girl is in "bad shape."
CBS4 also learned in court that it could not be clearly established if the estranged husband was the girl's father because the girl's vital records are still in Cuba.
The husband has not been officially identified and investigators do not know what prompted the shooting.
His neighbor in Northwest Miami-Dade, Yolanda Lorenzo, said the wife left him last September.
"I always thought that he was not a normal person, that he was a sick person," she said.
Lorenzo told CBS4's Lauren Pastrana "He had problems with everyone in the building and even with me. I am surprised about this. I found out this morning."
Miami-Dade Police on Wednesday released the identity of the mother.
Business at the shopping center at 8679 SW 24 Street came to a standstill Tuesday when Lourdes M. Martinez-Rodriguez, 43, was shot by her estranged husband around 6:35 pm in the parking lot, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Witnesses said the shooting happened by two cars, a red sedan and a white suv, parked in the lot.
According to police, Rodriguez and her estranged husband, whose identity has not been released, were exchanging property when the two got into an argument.
The husband reportedly took out a gun and shot his estranged wife and then turned the gun on himself.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and the woman was pronounced dead on the scene. The shooter was transported to Kendall Regional Trauma Center where he is currently listed in critical condition.
The couple's 15-year-old daughter was at the scene of the shooting, according to police. Police also said Wednesday that Rodriguez worked at the Dollar House--all though she worked more often at the Flagler and 82nd store.
The store, which usually opens at 9 am, is still closed Wednesday morning.
Dozens of shoppers heard the gunshot that left the mother dead inside her car.
Alyssa Pitsoulakis, in the area of the shooting Tuesday night, told CBS4 she heard the shot.
"I heard a gunshot. Then I saw a girl running to cars. I wasn't sure if she was laughing or crying," Pitsoulakis said Tuesday night. "Then I see someone turn around just holding himself. He turned back around and everyone knew someone got shot. They all ran to the front, we heard the second one, and then we called 911."
Witnesses said the shooting happened between two vehicles, a red sedan and white SUV, parked in the lot of the shopping center.
Detectives said the shooter's identity isn't being released until family is notified.
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