10-year-old girl struck, killed by stray bullet while celebrating New Year’s Day

By John MacLauchlan

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    HIALEAH, Florida (WFOR) — A New Year’s Day celebration turned tragic when a 10-year-old girl was struck and killed by a stray bullet in northwest Miami-Dade.

According to police, Yanelis Munuguia was with her family in the parking lot in front of their apartment, at NW 27 Avenue and 21 Terrace, lighting fireworks around 1:30 a.m. to celebrate the new year when she was struck in the head by a bullet. Yanelis collapsed to the ground. Her family put her in a car with the intent of driving her to the hospital. During the drive, they called 911. They were met by Hialeah Fire Rescue at Palm Avenue and W 3 Street who took the girl to the Ryder Trauma Center where she died.

Police believe the person who fired the shot was probably shooting into the air to celebrate the start of 2025 and had no idea that a bullet had struck someone. Law enforcement and community leaders have stressed that firing a gun to celebrate an occasion is a dangerous act, in this case, it was deadly.

“We speak time and time again every new year about the fact that what goes up must come down. This is a prime example of the dangers of shooting a firearm indiscriminately into the air. We have a 10-year-old girl who lost her life at the beginning of the year,” said Miami-Dade Detective Andre Martin.

Yanelis had just celebrated her 10th birthday on the day after Christmas. Now Yanelis’ family is planning her funeral on the first day of the new year.

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