A Florida teen who was reported lacking over two years in the past has turned up in North Carolina and is accused of gunning down a “hardworking” FedEx employee, who had simply accomplished a DoorDash supply.
Gracie Elizabeth Landa, 18, was charged Tuesday with the homicide of 23-year-old Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez, who was shot useless in his Honda Accord close to Whippoorwill Park in Durham on Could 30, based on a warrant obtained by the Raleigh Information & Observer.
Landa went lacking from Tampa in June 2023 when she was 16 and was listed by the Nationwide Middle for Lacking & Exploited Kids.
Nonetheless, almost a 12 months after her disappearance, officers suspected her to be someplace within the Durham space, the outlet reported.
Her whereabouts had been unknown to the general public till she was charged with homicide.
Piedrasanta-Perez and two ladies had been sitting in his automobile close to the doorway of the park at round 12:30 a.m. on Could 30, when two or three folks walked as much as his automobile — raining a hail of bullets into the automobile earlier than fleeing, the Raleigh Information & Observer reported.
The 2 ladies within the automobile with Piedrasanta-Perez had been injured within the capturing. Their situations are unknown.
A 911 name was made shortly after the capturing, prompting first responders to hurry to the scene, the place they found Piedrasanta-Perez useless from a gunshot wound to the pinnacle inside his automobile.
Safety footage from a close-by park captured the second two folks had been seen rising from the woods and opening hearth.
The trio was on the park that evening as a result of a pal had organized to combat one other woman, however as his Honda Accord pulled into the park entrance, the suspects stepped out of the woods and unleashed the barrage of gunfire, based on the warrant.
The warrant states the explanation for the combat arose from a dispute over a romantic relationship, however doesn’t element Landa’s alleged involvement.
Nonetheless, the sufferer’s mom advised Fox8 that her son had simply completed a DoorDash supply together with his girlfriend and was sitting within the automobile when the onslaught of gunfire began.
“He was not on the market on the lookout for bother. I actually don’t know why this occurred. He was within the fallacious place on the fallacious time,” Amalia Perez mentioned.
“Since every little thing occurred, there’s not been a day the place I don’t go see his grave. We’re at all times there. It’s simply been so laborious, we haven’t stopped going to see him.”
His grieving mom mentioned police knowledgeable her that extra suspects stay at massive.
She mentioned she has “religion” that the police will carry the opposite suspects to justice.
His household mentioned the 23-year-old was a graduate of Southern Excessive College, working as a warehouse employee for FedEx, and likewise labored as a DoorDash supply driver on the aspect.
“He was only a enjoyable brother, pal, grandson, and son to be round,” his mom mentioned. “At all times with that massive smile.”
Piedrasanta-Perez is described because the youngest of two siblings and 10 grandchildren, who was a “Sort soul, respectful, humorous, caring, loving, hardworking,” based on a GoFundMe web page arrange in Could.
“Christopher was greater than only a son, a brother, a pal, he was a light-weight in our lives. Together with his calm and funky presence, he had a means of creating everybody round him really feel secure and seen,” the web page reads.
Landa is at the moment locked up within the Durham County jail and has been denied bond, based on the Durham Sheriff’s Division.
The 18-year-old made her first look in Durham County Court docket on Wednesday morning. She is due again in court docket on Sept. 11.
