Melissa Ortega was an 8-year-old Hispanic girl who had moved to Chicago from Mexico with her mother a few months before she was killed. The family arrived in August 2021; Melissa was a student at Emiliano Zapata Academy and her relatives described her as a hopeful child who wanted to learn English, feel Chicago snow, get a stuffed animal from Build-a-Bear and make TikTok dances with friends.

On the afternoon of January 22, 2022, Melissa was walking hand-in-hand with her mother in Little Village near West 26th Street and South Pulaski Road when a gunman dressed in black emerged from an alley and opened fire. The shooting was gang-related and aimed at a rival gang member; Melissa was struck twice in the head by stray bullets and died at the scene while the intended target survived after being shot in the back. Investigators used surveillance video to track the offenders, who fled in a Toyota Camry; police later arrested a 27-year-old driver and a 16-year-old alleged shooter, and charged both with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

A memorial of flowers and teddy bears grew at the site where Melissa died. If anyone knew Melissa or has information about the shooting, please come forward.