Melania Ross, a 40-year-old African American woman from Jacksonville, Florida, was shot and killed on June 22, 2019. She was attending a cookout at a friend’s house on Brooklyn Road when, about 2:30 a.m., a shootout erupted outside. Multiple rounds were fired from the street; roughly 20 shell casings were recovered and bullets struck a tree in front of the house. A bullet hit Melania in the back and she later died at UF Health Jacksonville.

Homicide detectives interviewed three witnesses, but no arrests have been announced and the investigation remains open. Melania was a mother of three children, ages 8, 15, and 17. Her family described her as hardworking and kind-hearted and has set up a GoFundMe to support the children while urging anyone with information to come forward.

Did anyone nearby on Brooklyn Road that night see or hear anything that could help investigators?