Family of 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez asks for public's help finding her killer
BALTIMORE -- Aaliyah Gonzalez was just 18 years old when she was shot and killed at a festive gathering in Baltimore's Brooklyn Homes community.
Gonzalez's family describes her as their whole world. They are devastated by her murder. Now, they asking the public to come forward with tips that might help detectives capture the people who discharged their guns, bringing an end to her life.
"For something like this to happen to somebody. Somebody so beautiful. Somebody so pure. Somebody so innocent—it's just it's not fair," Gonzalez's aunt, Sheldonna Wilson told WJZ.
The Baltimore Police Department has said that there were at least two shooters who opened fire at the Brooklyn Homes gathering in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Gonzalez received a last-minute invitation to attend the party, according to her family. She went to support her friend, they said.
Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi were killed by the gunfire, according to police.
Her uncle, Khaliq Dyer, said she had a pure heart and was "not the type of people to be in those crowds."
Her great uncle, John Young, told WJZ that he wants everyone to know that Gonzalez was a beautiful person.
Gonzalez was an honor student who had just graduated from Glen Burnie High School. She wanted to work in the medical field, according to her family.
Glen Burnie High School Principal Kevin Carr sent out a letter to families and staff in the aftermath of the shooting noting that she "was a quiet student who was proud of her academic achievements."
"She made the honor roll in every marking period this year and was looking forward to a bright future," Carr said in the letter.
Gonzalez was also her family's star.
"She was quiet and more stayed to herself, but she was a person that you wanted to interact with because she just had this energy and this aura about her," Wilson said.
Gonzalez's family wants to keep her memory alive and her picture in the public eye in the hopes that someone will be able to help them find the people who fired their weapons that day, taking the life of their loved one.
"If it was your sister, wouldn't you want somebody to come forward and say I know who did it," Young said.