UPDATE: An juvenile male was arrested in connection to Aaliyah's murder, the Denver Police Department announced. Click here for more.
DENVER – A family is grieving after a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed Wednesday in Denver's Montbello neighborhood.
Family members have identified the victim as 16-year-old Aaliyah Cortez. The suspects accused in the shooting still have not been caught.
Denver7 spoke to Aaliyah’s parents, who are pleading with the public to come forward with information.
“She was a great person. She had a heart of gold. Within five minutes of you meeting her, you could open up to her about anything. She was just an amazing person. Like words can't really explain it. That's just how amazing she was," said Daniel Gonzalez, Aaliyah’s stepfather. "I've pretty much seen her grow up all her life."
The family said she was heading to her grandmother’s house with her older sister, Jennifer, when they were approached by the suspects.
“Jennifer was driving. And I guess when everything happened, they pulled up to a stop sign or something. And she was lost. She was trying to get through Montbello because she took a route that she normally didn't take. And she was looking up the GPS when the individual came up to the window with the pistol,” said Gonzalez.
The Denver Police Department says the shooting happened around 6:20 p.m when the two girls were inside a vehicle and stopped in the 5400 block of North Atchison Way. The unidentified suspect approached the vehicle, produced a firearm and shot Aaliyah one time, according to Denver police.
“[Jennifer] mentioned like she tried to give Aaliyah a sign to hop in the back. Aaliyah took it as a sign that she needed help. So, she tried to fight him off as Jenny was trying to drive off. The gun went off, and he did strike her. The wound did cause a lot of internal damage,” said Gonzalez.
The stepfather said Jennifer described seeing two teen male suspects.
“There was two. I guess one was, like, kind of behind the other, like towards the back of him when he was going up to them at the stop sign," he said.
Aaliyah was transported to the hospital, where she later died
"When she left the scene, I believe she was already unconscious. They told me they took her to the hospital and right away put her into surgery, and her heart had already stopped beating," said Aaliyah's mother, Wendy Cortez. "They got her to resuscitate and then they started performing surgery again. They had told me at one point that she was stable but needed more surgery to be done. So after that, we kept waiting and waiting until finally they came and told us they couldn't do nothing for her no more."
Family members are now asking for help in identifying the suspects.
“My daughter didn’t deserve this,” said Cortez. “Somebody has something, they need to bring it forward. Do what’s right. Somebody has to come forward. It’s gonna be worse if you don’t come forward.”
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of Aaliyah’s funeral expenses. They are hosting a benefit between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 at The Spot 2.0, located at 8880 Washington in Thornton.
Denver police said anyone with information regarding this homicide is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.