Chicago shooting: Family demands justice one year after 20-year-old Amaris Trujillo was shot dead in Brighton Park

CHICAGO (WLS) — It has been a year since a young woman was shot while traveling in a car with her mother and boyfriend.

Chicago police have yet to arrest anyone in the murder of Amaris Trujillo. Her relatives gathered on Friday in grief and demanded justice.

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Family and friends gathered at Promontory Point on Friday night, not only to mourn but to demand answers, exactly one year after the 20-year-old was shot and killed.

Family members told ABC7 that the Highland, Indiana, woman was in a car with her then-boyfriend, who was driving, and her mother, who was in the back seat, when the shooting happened.

“It was the hardest thing ever,” said the victim’s aunt, Alma Castruita. “Her family is no longer the same.”

They had just left Trujillo’s grandmother’s house as the group was driving down Rockwell Street near 43rd Street in Brighton Park when a pedestrian opened fire on the car, police said.

“It was just continuous gunshots, over and over again,” Castruita said. “When she opened her eyes and looked over, she saw her daughter’s head was tilted forward.”

All three passengers were hit by gunfire, police said. Trujillo was the only one who died, and family members say she was not the intended target. A bullet is still lodged in her mother’s leg, ABC7 learned.

Even as time passes, this family’s grief remains unabated.

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“Days have turned into months… now a year,” Castruita said. “The pain is the same as yesterday. And it’s even worse because we don’t have justice for them.”

Exactly one year later, their families are still seeking justice and are frustrated that the police have not made any arrests.

“Holidays, everything – it’s changed,” said Castruita. “We’re missing a big part of our family.”

The celebratory night ended with the release of balloons, exactly at the time the young woman died in hospital a year ago.

“We want justice for them,” said Castruita. “We want our family to have some closure.”