A mum has been killed after getting caught up in the crossfire of a daytime gun fight while driving one of her daughters to get her prom dress.
39-year-old mum-of-three Ana Moreno was taking her 18-year-old daughter, Amy Rodriguez, to pick up her prom dress when they heard "really loud gunshots, and really close to us".
Ana appears to have been caught up in a shootout between passengers in two other vehicles near a mall in Dallas, which took place on Saturday, May 13. The shooting happened just after 4pm at the shopping centre along Bruton Road and Masters Drive in the Pleasant Grove ara.
Police have said two vehicles were shooting at each other while driving eastbound on Bruton Road. Three men were also left fighting for their lives following the shooting having been taken to local hospitals.
"I told her to keep going," Amy told Fox4News, tearing up as she remembered her mum signalling at her throat that she couldn't keep going.
"We crashed... she fell on me, and when I looked at her I [saw] blood - and I knew.
"I didn't care about prom. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted her to be okay. It's hard. I just still can't believe it."
After their vehicle crashed, Amy got out and screamed for help.
Jacob Faz had been driving by with his wife, he told the news outlet: "She looked panicked.
"She was trying to get somebody to help her mum. She was scared."
He said he tried to help Ana, but there was nothing he could do. "She wasn't breathing," he said, "I checked for a pulse."
He added: "When you see somebody's face and you know they're gone it's just... yeah it stays with you.
"But for me personally, it doesn't shock you any more. You never know you're here one moment the next thing you're gone."
Amy's younger sister, Michelle, told reporters their mum meant the world to them and they meant the world to her. "She was so excited to see [Amy] get ready for prom," she told Fox4.
"She was excited for everything. She was so excited for us to graduate, that's all she wanted."
But now, Mother's Day will never be the same for the children. "It's going to get better eventually," Amy said. While Michelle said: "She didn't deserve it. She didn't."
A vigil was held for Ana on Sunday, May 14. During the vigil, Michell said: "She would always... like anything you would want in a mum, that was her.
"It wasn't her time, it wasn't supposed to be her. And it's over something so stupid. How do you do that to someone innocent?"
A fundraiser has been set up to cover her funeral expenses by family. Aura Moreno, who organised it, said: "With heavy hearts we share that Ana was suddenly taken away from us due to gun violence.
"On May 13 she was driving with her daughter to pick up her prom dress. She left a son and two daughters.
"We want to thank everyone who has reached out to us with ocndlences. We will appreciate everyone's help in putting Ana to rest."
It's unclear whether the three men injured in the shooting were bystanders or involved. Police have not yet made any arrests.
