A man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Suheill Ortiz in Worcester, Massachusetts, local police said.
Djarflo Irving, 37, was arrested on manslaughter and carrying a firearm and ammunition without a license charges, according to Worcester police.
He is scheduled to face a judge Wednesday, a day after allegedly shooting the pregnant woman remembered by friends and family as kind and outgoing.
While police didn't initially name the victim, her family identified her as Suheill Ortiz. Her sister told NBC10 Boston she was pregnant with her second child — she had a young daughter.
"She was a good person, outgoing, nice, made me – made people feel happy," said Ortiz's sister, Zuleimy Ortiz.
Worcester police said they responded to a building on Oread St. off Main Street around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a person who had been shot. When officers arrived, they found a 21-year-old woman inside the building.
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The victim was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Her uncle Angel Ortiz said police called him and his wife to go to the police station, that something had happened to one of his nieces. When they got there, they were told she had been killed.
“She was a great person, she was nice and she was kind,” said Jason Collazo, Ortiz’s friend.
The sister said she was present for the shooting, which came as they drank with friends on the building's second floor, and saw Ortiz bleeding on the ground.
"I turn back and I seen the smoke, like that yellow smoke," Zuleimy Ortiz said. "She’s already lost all her – bleeding, like she’s stuck on the ground."
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Another witness said, "The lady was screaming, saying, 'help me, somebody call the cops, my friend got shot!"
As Ortiz’s loved ones deal with the shock of her death, the people who live in this neighborhood say they’re concerned for their own safety.
“I’ve lived here seven years, and this area just seems to be getting worse and worse," neighbor Pamela Williams said.
Another neighbor, Luz Morales, called it scary, “especially when you see somebody die in front of you.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Worcester police at 508-799-8651 or submit an anonymous tip via text to 274637 TIPWPD or at worcesterma.gov/police.
