A family is still searching for justice months after 20-year-old Junisha Niclasse was shot and killed at a gas station in North Miami Beach. NBC6’s Kim Wynne reports
There’s not a moment that goes by that Maggy Belizaire Lopez isn’t thinking about her daughter, 20-year-old Junisha Niclasse, not being by her side.
“She’s not a daughter, she’s like a mom, a sister,” Belizaire Lopez said, fighting tears. “We do everything together... She was my life.”
It’s a life she says hasn’t been the same since May 17.
“I heard yelling,” the mother remembered. “I heard, 'Call the police.'”
That was the day she got the call that Junisha had been shot and killed at a gas station in North Miami Beach.
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“I was at my office,” she said. “I fell on the floor.”
Investigators say it happened on Northeast 159th Street and Northeast 18th Avenue.
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Police say a second person was also shot but survived. Junisha’s car was left riddled with bullets and shattered glass.
“I don’t want any other parent to go through the pain that I’m going through right now,” Belizaire Lopez said. “It’s really painful. Parents should not bury their child, a child should bury their parent.”
Nearly five months later, the shooter still hasn’t been caught.
"It's like a nightmare to me," Belizaire Lopez says.
Police say it’s still an active case.
Belizaire Lopez says Junisha was studying nursing and also worked with her as a realtor, but says her daughter’s biggest passion was dance.
Junisha spent much of her time as part of a local dance team.
“She was a perfect daughter. Perfect daughter,” she said. "She was very responsible, respectful."
The mother says her daughter also pushed her to run for a North Miami Beach city commissioner seat.
She says Junisha was supposed to be her campaign manager and treasurer.
"It was her idea. She said, 'Mommy, you're going to be good at it. Too much crime going on in North Miami Beach," Belizaire Lopez said.
As she continues to wait for justice, the mother urges the shooter to come forward.
“Please, whoever killed my daughter, bring yourself in,” she said. “Please I’m begging you to bring yourself in.”
Belizaire Lopez says her daughter was ambitious and had dreams of becoming a gynecologist.
Anyone with information should contact the North Miami Beach Police Department at 305-949-5500.
