For some reason, most of us were all there. It was like an unplanned family reunion on a hot afternoon day in my grandma’s apartment. I was young, but I still remember everything – how it happened so fast and what I saw next door after it ocurred.

My aunt Sintia was looking out the backyard window and just as she screamed “Get down!” – five gunshots went off. We were all on our stomachs. My cousin Norma peeked out behind the bathroom door at me as I crawled down the hallway to the dinner area where Sintia was. After we heard them run out and the temporary silence was cut by a woman’s screams, we checked ourselves and made sure everyone was okay. 911 was dialed and I saw that Sintia, my uncle Pancho, and my mother were headed out to go next door. I followed.

What a tragic nightmare we found in there. So much blood on the walls. The screams belonged to a woman wearing only panties and a T-shirt. A man lay in the kitchen, his legs twitching and a fountain of blood overflowing on his forehead.