On July 4, 2015, 41-year-old Mirta Rivera was asleep in her Lawrence, Massachusetts apartment when a bullet passed through the ceiling from the apartment above and struck her in the abdomen. Her boyfriend found her and called for help; she was taken to Lawrence General Hospital and died of the gunshot wound.

Police traced the shot to the upstairs unit, where they found three men: Jose Lara-Mejia, 35, Wilton Lara Calmona, 38, and Christopher Paganmoux, 22. A hole in that apartment’s floor matched the hole in Rivera’s ceiling. Officers also recovered a rifle and a large quantity of heroin and cocaine; the rifle was reported to be consistent with the bullet that killed Rivera. The three men were arrested on drug trafficking charges.

On October 2, 2015, an Essex County grand jury indicted Jose Lara-Mejia for manslaughter and charged him with illegal possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, and illegal possession of ammunition. At the time he was being held on high bail for the narcotics charges. Reports also noted that two of the men, including Lara-Mejia, had been previously deported and were undocumented.

If anyone knew Mirta Rivera or has information about the shooting, please come forward to help fill gaps in the investigation.