Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The 15-year-old girl hit by a bullet on New Year’s Eve in Malabon City has died.
After four days in coma, 15-year-old Emilyn Villanueva died at 6:10 p.m. on Wednesday at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.
Her immediate family is distraught and refuses to talk to media, while other relatives are still in shock.
In an interview, Sheryl Villanueva, the victim’s aunt, lamented the loss of her niece.
“Siyempre masakit po kasi po batang bata pa ho yung pamangkin ko, nag aaral pa ho,” she said.
[Translation: Of course it hurts. My niece was young, she was still studying.]
Rose Labrador, Emilyn’s grandmother, said the family is still reeling from the girl’s death.
“Nagulat nga kami lahat eh hindi kami makapaniwala. Ganun parin tumawag pa rin kami sa ospital para makasiguro kami. Iyon, nalaman nga namin…Talagang masakit di ba?,” Labrador said.
[Translation: We were in shock. We couldn’t believe it, we called the hospital to make sure it was true. It really hurts, doesn’t it?]
In an interview with CNN Philippines, attending neurosurgeon Dr. Alain James Salloman said the official cause of Emilyn’s death was severe brain injury from a gunshot wound to the head.
“We tried to revive her. The vital signs flattened at around 5:30 p.m. and we instituted resuscitation until her demise at 6:10,” he said.
When Villanueva was admitted to the hospital, doctors had concluded that removing the bullet from her brain would not help.
Salloman said the girl’s condition continued to worsen.
“From admission, the vital signs and coma scoring of the patient dropped significantly in the past 4 days,” he said.
Villanueva was hit while watching the new year fireworks in her neighborhood and taking pictures around her house in Barangay San Agustin, Malabon.
The Malabon City Police are now looking for a Renato Sy, alias “Toti,” who is suspected of firing a gun that night, supposedly to scare a still unnamed person. They have taken a statement from this person, and are now looking into whether the bullet from Sy’s gun was the one that hit Villanueva.
Police previously charged Sy with reckless imprudence resulting in physical injuries – but with Villanueva’s death, that charge has been elevated to reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
CNN Philippines Correspondents Triciah Terada and Anna Estanislao contributed to this report
