PHOENIX — Photographs, memories, and a broken heart, that’s what the family of Daniella Espinosa has left of the 15-year-old who was shot and killed Sunday night.
“Her smile just brought everyone together, we’re going to miss her,” Marina Gonzales said about her niece. “Always playing around, a jokester. She was the little tomboy of the family.”
Espinosa was injured inside her home located near 7th Avenue, south of Broadway Road. Phoenix police were called to the scene just before 11 p.m.
The 15-year-old's stepmother told 12News she witnessed the shooting. She asked not to be identified but said she was standing a few feet away from Espinosa and the suspect.
“My daughter Daniella was sitting here on the edge of the couch and the suspect was standing here,” the stepmother pointed to an empty spot in the living room right by the entrance of the home.
“They were joking around and then, when he pulled the gun up, he went like this and it went off,” the stepmother said as she re-enacted the suspect holding the gun and losing his balance after the firearm fired.
Espinosa was shot in the stomach, the stepmother said. A bullet also injured the 15-year-old's adult brother, who was sitting next to her, she added.
A bullet hit a wall-mounted TV behind the couch where the siblings were, and it traveled into a bedroom behind the wall. Another bullet hit a wall by the entrance of the home and exited the residence.
“My daughter fell to the floor and my husband, her dad, grabbed her and was holding her in his arms,” the stepmother said.
Espinosa was rushed to a hospital, but doctors could not save her.
“One of the hardest news that you have to get,” Gonzales said when she learned her niece had passed away. “Especially being there with her grandma, who loved her.”
Espinosa is remembered as a happy girl, who loved playing jokes on others. Her family said she was “full of life, always smiling.”
“All she wanted was her family to be all together and unfortunately, it’s in these circumstances that we’re all getting together,” the aunt said. “The person that she was, everybody loved her.”
Phoenix police arrested the teenage suspect and booked him for second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and weapons charges. They recovered the gun at the scene.
Espinosa’s family told 12News the suspect lived with them on and off after they opened their home to him when he had nowhere to go. He and the victim “were like brothers and sisters, they were always together,” the stepmother said.
“I treated him like my own kid, we took him in,” the stepmother said. “I just told him he was dead to me because a best friend wouldn’t do that to a friend.
Gonzales said she was grateful a suspect was arrested.
On Tuesday, friends, and classmates, along with family members, released balloons to honor Espinosa’s memory at her school.
“She had a big heart,” Espinosa’s aunt said. “She is just really going to be missed.”
The family created a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. Anyone interested in donating can do so here.
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