AUSTIN, Texas — What started as a case of road rage has ended with a family in pieces.
Miranda Lopez, a 21-year-old Austin woman, died on Tuesday but is being kept on life support so her organs can be donated.
This is after a road rage shooting incident that happened just after 7 p.m. on Dec. 26 near Todd Lane and Pleasant Valley Road and landed Lopez in the hospital.
As of late Tuesday, Austin police homicide detectives are looking for a possible witness. They would like to speak to the person who may have seen the shooting that took place at the roundabout at Todd Lane and Pleasant Valley Road. Police said surveillance video shows a dark red or maroon SUV, possibly Ford or GM, in that area around that time.
The APD said Wednesday they believe the suspect vehicle may have been a dark-colored sedan that was last seen driving westbound on East St. Elmo possibly without its headlights on.
Miranda's father hopes any information will lead authorities to those responsible for taking his daughter away from him.
JR Lopez explained what happened that night. He said his two daughters, going home after dinner, came across a car driving erratically in circles at the roundabout at Todd Lane and Pleasant Valley Road.
He said his oldest daughter, Lisa, honked the horn and that's when the other car started chasing them.
Lopez said his daughters got scared and pulled over. The other car also pulled over. Lopez said someone in the other car started shooting at them.
Miranda had her own gun and shot back before being shot in the head.
"I've lost my baby. I'm not going to hear my baby's heart no more. I'm not going to hear your voice. I'm not going to hug you. I'm not going to hear her tell me she loves me. I can't tell her I love her. My baby. Please, please, help me catch these people. They're animals. They deserve to go to prison for life at least, at least. My family is devastated. My daughter is blaming herself. And I'm afraid for my daughter and her mother because they keep saying they can't live with that," Lopez cried.
"I've asked for counseling. I've asked for victim services. People that have been so overwhelmingly generous with those people in the public have contributed any kind of information, and that's what we need. So please keep sending anything, even if you're not sure it's the same vehicle. Take a picture, take the license plates, let them run it. That's the police's job. And I'm asking somebody, please, you know, who did this? You know what happened, please," Lopez pleaded.
The family has added $2,000 to the $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward for any information leading to the arrest of a suspect or suspects in this case.
Miranda's sister, Lisa, has started a GoFundMe account to help the family with medical, memorial and reward expenses.
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