At least one gunman opened fire on a mother and her stepdaughter as they parked a pickup truck near their North Philadelphia home overnight, leaving both women dead.
Medics and police arrived on the 3000 block of N Lawrence Street just after midnight Wednesday to find Lilliana Mendoza, 35, in the driver seat and her stepdaughter, Aslemarie Torres, 19, in the passenger seat of the running Toyota pickup, Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Both women were shot multiple times in the head and body.
“The shooter or shooters fired multiple shots into the passenger side,” Small said.
Medics pronounced both women dead on the scene.
The gunfire possibly came from a passing car. Witnesses told police they saw a vehicle pull off down Lawrence Street after the shooting, investigators said.
It was unclear if the women – believed to have resided in the same home – were the intended targets.
“Right now we don’t have a clear motive for this homicide,” Small said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Distraught loved ones were on the scene after the shooting as police searched for clues on the residential block.
"They told me, 'Oh, your aunt, you know got killed, got shot.' I flipped out and I lost it," Alex Mendoza, Lilliana Mendoza's nephew, said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.
"Turn yourself in," Alex Mendoza said. "Eventually karma is going to catch up to you. They are going to find you."
