Woman who was killed in mass shooting in Mexico grew up in Warrenville; brother in mourning
<strong>WARRENVILLE, Ill. (CBS)</strong> -- A mother of four who grew up in a western suburb of Chicago was murdered in Mexico in a mass shooting.
The woman, Melissa Silva, and her sister had traveled to Mexico to visit family, when gunmen burst into a gathering - killing 19 people. Her sister was shot - but survived.
Her grieving brother spoke to CBS 2's Shardaa Gray on Wednesday.
"I went crazy for a couple of minutes," said Alex Silva. "I couldn't believe it."
Alex Silva and his family are devastated after learning the tragic news that his older sister Melissa, 36, is dead.
"I was good after - but later at night, you know, I still get those dreams," Alex Silva said.
Melissa grew up in Warrenville but moved to Watsonville, California. She was one of 19 people killed at a venue used to host cockfights in the town of Las Tinajas, Michoacan state in Mexico Sunday night.
The local attorney general's office said the "lifeless bodies" of 16 men and three women were found at the scene, all bearing gunshot wounds. It later said an additional person had died en route to hospital. Six people were wounded in the attack, Mexican prosecutors said.
And one of the women who was killed was Alex Silva's sister.
"I get a phone call from a friend out here telling that they heard gunshots and that it came from that place, and two minutes later, my mom calls me that she had just arrived to the place and she saw my oldest sister laying on the floor," he said.
His younger sister, 16-year-old Arleth Silva, was also at the event and was shot twice in the leg and once in the lung.
"It looked like she was trying to walk or go help my older sister, and when she tried, she got hit," Alex Silva said.
Alex flew to Mexico to bring his wounded sister back home to Warrenville. but he said the process with the U.S. Embassy takes a lot of steps.
"It's been pretty hard to get in contact with the U.S. Embassy and all this stuff, but they just reached out earlier today - but there's still a lot of stuff to do," he said. "You know, it's a process."
Alex says Melissa will be buried in Mexico. He says she's irreplaceable.
"She was just a hardworking mom," he said. "She was single. She provided for her kids - anything they needed. She'd give them anything."
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral and hospital expenses.
