On Christmas morning at about 11:25 a.m., 18-year-old Nayah Vasquez was shot while a passenger in a vehicle on S. 37th Street near National Avenue in Milwaukee’s Silver City neighborhood. The car continued after the shooting, hit a parked vehicle and then struck a tree. Her companion, 15-year-old Exziel Rivera, was pronounced dead at the scene; Nayah later died at a local hospital.

Family and friends remember Nayah as outgoing, sweet, and passionate about music and the outdoors. Her mother said Nayah had shown her a new outfit she received that morning and had hopes of one day having a family and possibly becoming a veterinarian. Loved ones held a candlelight vigil and say she was simply caught up with the wrong crowd.

Investigators say surveillance video showed a black Malibu approach; 21-year-old Jeremiah Taylor allegedly leaned out of the passenger side and fired into the teens’ car. The Malibu was later found burned in a park. Eighteen-year-old Quintarez Morris was arrested; his charges were later upgraded to two counts of first-degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime, though he pleaded guilty to harboring or aiding a felon and received five years in prison. Authorities continue to seek information on Taylor’s whereabouts. If anyone knew Nayah or has information about the shooting, please come forward.