Valeria Ortega's loved ones were in unbearable pain Monday -- just hours after police found the 64-year-old dead with a gunshot wound to the head in a New York City sidewalk on broad daylight.
The NYPD says they responded to a 911 call at around 11:31 a.m. of person shot in the vicinity of Dyckman Street and Vermilyea Avenue within the Inwood section of Manhattan.
Ortega's husband told News 4 New York in Spanish that his wife was a good person and he feels awful for their two boys.
He says his wife was walking to the grocery story when someone shot her.
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Paramedics rushed Ortega to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Luis Seafley— working his merchandise stand at the corner of Dyckman Street and Vermilya Avenue — stood feet away from the gunfire that killed Ortega.
"I heard three shots," Seafley said. "When I saw her falling, I realized they were real. I got scared. Went to run..took cover in the bank."
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Cops found at least three bullet holes on this block with one of the bullets even shattering a bank window.
"It’s just really shocking especially the day after Christmas, that’s terrible. You don’t expect to see something like this happen," a resident told News 4 New York.
While witnesses believe she was caught in the crossfire, the NYPD says the circumstances are under investigation, including if Ortega was an unintended target.
