Teen shot 7 times, killed, while sitting in car

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Melissa de la Garza was conscionable 18 years aged erstwhile she was gunned down portion sitting wrong her car Saturday night. She had conscionable arrived astatine her Southwest Side location aft a time spent with her mother.

"They went to bargain Halloween costumes. They had a large day. She was conscionable coming location and trying to get inside," said the victim's sister, Isabel de la Garza.

Melissa, who preferred to spell by the sanction Azul, was changeable 7 times, according to her grandmother.

"It is simply a nightmare," her grandmother, Clara de la Garza, said successful Spanish. "Who is going to capable this hole? It's unbelievable however this metropolis is being consumed by violence."

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Relatives said officers were alerted by a adjacent changeable spotter and arrived connected the country conscionable moments aft Azul's begetter ran retired of the location erstwhile helium heard the gunshots himself.

"He saw my sister sitting successful the car. He was screaming her sanction and she wasn't responding. My dada opened the doorway and conscionable held her," Isabel said.

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"It's hard to enactment into words the nonaccomplishment that we're feeling, for idiosyncratic to instrumentality distant my 18-year-old warrior princess," said the victim's father, Jose de la Garza. "Just doing everything the champion mode we've taught her. And for idiosyncratic to travel and instrumentality that distant for nary reason, it doesn't marque immoderate sense."

The 18-year-old is conscionable 1 of at slightest 5 radical killed successful Chicago truthful acold this weekend.

She was 1 of 4 siblings and had conscionable graduated from Solorio Academy, wherever she was 1 of the archetypal young women to enactment successful the precocious school's wrestling team. She was besides an creator who loved to overgarment and was readying to instrumentality a twelvemonth disconnected to work, adjacent aft being admitted to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

"She had truthful overmuch ambition. She's truthful artistic," Isabel said. "I'll retrieve her arsenic my champion friend; my rock. The idiosyncratic I ever went to. She ever gave maine advice."

Police are inactive looking for the idiosyncratic oregon persons liable for Melissa de la Garza's death. Anyone with accusation that mightiness pb to an apprehension should telephone detectives astatine Area One.