Around 12:04 a.m., just minutes after the clock struck midnight, police say the 10-year-old fell to the ground outside her family's home in Allapattah. Her parents rushed to check her for injuries before they quickly realized she'd been shot in the head.
"All of a sudden, she fell down, and her father got nearby," Ramon Valdizon, Munguia's grandfather, told WSVN 7News. "And all of a sudden, he started crying."
According to the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), Munguia was hit by a stray bullet fired into the air "from an unknown location by an unknown subject" — what police have described as "celebratory gunfire."
Police say Munguia was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
She had reportedly just celebrated her tenth birthday on December 26.
Munguia wasn't the only casualty caused by a stray bullet this past New Year's Day. Mere minutes before her death, a 56-year-old woman was struck and killed by what police described as "celebratory gunfire" a few hours north in Kissimmee. In Fort Lauderdale, 50-year-old Angel Nunes, who had just surprised his partner with a visit to his pool deck to ring in the new year, died in his arms soon after. He was pronounced dead after arriving at Broward Health Medical Center.
The incidents come after increasingly lax gun laws in the Sunshine State following the July 2023 implementation of HB 543, which eliminated the need for individuals to complete a firearms training course and pass a background check before carrying their guns in public spaces.
Miami-Dade police are asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
"This heartbreaking incident serves as a devastating reminder that what goes up must come down," MDPD wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Bullets fired into the air can take innocent lives."
Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava also posted a brief statement about the incident on X.It is with deep sorrow that we share the tragic loss of a 10-year-old girl, who was killed due to celebratory gunfire on New Years Day near NW 27 Avenue and NW 21 Street in Miami.
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) January 1, 2025
This heartbreaking incident serves as a devastating reminder that what goes up must come down.… pic.twitter.com/iW6WNOCnIA
"Our hearts are with the family mourning the loss of their beloved 10-year-old, whose life was tragically cut short by reckless gunfire," Cava wrote in a post. "Let us unite to prevent further senseless acts."
Despite annual reminders from police not to shoot guns into the air, stray bullets have frequently injured and killed people during holiday celebrations in Florida.
During Fourth of July celebrations in 2019, a 2-month-old baby was struck by celebratory gunfire. Six months later, on New Year's Eve, a woman in downtown Delray Beach was hit in the leg by a stray bullet. As a woman watched fireworks with her 13-year-old daughter in West Palm Beach on July 4, 2022, she was suddenly struck by gunfire. Another woman was hit in the face by a stray bullet, presumed to be celebratory gunfire, on New Year's Eve in 2022 in Lake Mary.
