SAN ANTONIO – Homicide detectives are working to find the person who shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in a Southwest Side neighborhood early Tuesday morning.
Officers responded to several calls about gunshots in the 5100 block of War Horse and found the victim, identified as Naveah Martinez, dead in the back seat of a car.
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Police said the vehicle where they found her body, shortly after 12:30 a.m., was stolen.
They took two people into custody at the scene who they described as witnesses.
It was unclear whether Martinez was the intended target of the shooting.
However, officers said it appeared the violence stemmed from something that happened earlier at a nearby location.
They did not offer details on that earlier incident. Martinez’s aunt Stephanie Martinez described her as a sweet, and happy teen. “She loved working with her dad. She liked to do, like, construction and stuff like that. So she was a good girl,” she recalls.
By daylight, someone had left a single red rose on the sidewalk in honor of the victim, just a few feet away from a large blood stain. That memorial grew in the day as more family and friends stopped by to remember the teen.
Police say the shooting is still under investigation, although they are handling it as a murder case. The family is pleading for justice, “just turn yourself in. I mean, she was just a child,” her aunt said.
WATCH NIGHTBEAT COVERAGE: Family seeks justice after 16-year-old shot, killed on South Side