The mother of a Puerto Rican Olympian was killed after she was struck by a stray bullet while sewing in her Connecticut home over the weekend, police and her daughter said.
Mabel Martinez, 56, was struck in the head by a shooter who opened fire on a man walking outside of her house in Waterbury on Saturday afternoon. She died from her injuries the next day, cops said.
The man was shot in the leg and survived.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo told The Associated Press that investigators believe the shooting was drug-related and that Martinez was not the intended target.
Martinez was the mother of Yarimar Mercado Martinez, a rifle shooter on the Puerto Rican Olympic team who competed in the summer games last year in Tokyo. The 27-year-old also competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The daughter posted a heartbreaking message on social media expressing her grief over her mother’s sudden, violent death.
“Why you? why is it like that? If you were just sitting in your house sewing, as you used to do…” she wrote on Facebook in Spanish.
“Two days ago you called me with excitement, asking me to save the date and help you prepare to renew your wedding vows with daddy in Puerto Rico,” she said Sunday.
“There are so many things I still needed to learn from you … I was so far away without being able to do anything, I couldn’t even say goodbye to you,” the daughter continued.
The Olympian flew from Brazil to Connecticut late Sunday, according to Gilberto Hernández, president of the Puerto Rico Shooting Association.
Mercado Martinez said that her mother’s remains were being transported to Puerto Rico so family members could say a final goodbye.
She apologized to her country for not being able to compete as she deals with her loss.
Police haven’t identified a suspect and no arrests were made in the case as of early Tuesday.
With Post Wires
