Phoenix woman fatally shot while kids were in car: 'An exceptional mother'
Family, friends of slain Phoenix mother remembering her life
The woman, identified as Yenni Dominguez-Leyvas, was shot and killed in an incident that happened in the early morning hours of Oct. 10. Now, family and friends of the victim are doing what they can to help loved ones move forward. FOX 10's Lauren Clark reports.
PHOENIX - Two teens and a young man have been arrested after a mother was killed in Phoenix while a baby was sitting in her lap.
When officers arrived at an Arco gas station near 27th Avenue and McDowell Road early Monday morning, they found a woman who had been shot and several children who were witnesses to the whole thing.
"Officers learned the woman was a passenger in a vehicle that was shot at in the area of 32nd Avenue and McDowell Road," stated Sgt. Phillip Krynsky. Paramedics treated the woman at the scene, but she later died from her injuries.
The victim is identified as 35-year-old Yenni Dominguez-Leyva. She had been sitting in the front seat of a car with a 1-year-old in her lap when she was shot.
Four other kids and two adults were also in the car, but were not seriously hurt.
Phoenix Police say the driver of the gunned-down car had fled to the Arco gas station where they called 911.
"Somebody minding their own business, doing what they're supposed to be doing, gunned down in the midst of living everyday life, is just the extra amount of tragedy that we see," Krynsky said.
Twelve hours after the shots were fired, the car was towed from the scene. The back windshield was shattered.
Wrong place, wrong time
For some reason, police say several people opened fire on the car.
"The details for why … they have nothing to do with the individuals involved in the shooting. They were going through, headed back home when the shooting occurred," said Phoenix Police Sgt. Phil Krynsky.
The fire station next door was also hit by gunfire.
Back at the scene of the shooting, police executed a search warrant. They found weapons and arrested three people, including boys in their late teens. The adult taken into custody is 19-year-old Martin Ramirez-Contreras.
They're suspected of being the shooters. All of them face charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
The suspects reportedly claimed that they heard gunshots and fired back in response, but police say that no one in the victim's car had opened fire.
"We had the tragedy of losing one life, but it definitely could have been worse. Those bullets go through the vehicle, it could have struck anybody. They don't discriminate," Krynsky remarked.
Victim remembered
Friends and loved ones of Dominguez-Leyva are remembering the victim.
"She was an exceptional mother, a good mother, Fun, and loving," said the victim's husband, Jesus Herandez.
"They arrested the persons, that’s great, so they can pay for what they did, but those kids didn’t deserve to lose their mother," said one of the victim's friends, Yesenia Robles. "Until the last minute of her life, she knew how to be a mother, because she had her daughter and protected her from everything that was happening."
"On one hand, we feel ‘relieved,’ but we want the full power of the law to come on them," said Hernandez.
Martin Ramirez-Contreras