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.
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.
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"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.
