On Wednesday night, two girls found their mother fatally shot in a Brownsville apartment. Investigators are now searching for the father of one of the girls.
Sellis Gonzales's two daughters, ages five and 15, found their mother dying in their Chauncey Street apartment. According to the Daily News, Gonzales was shot three times in the head and three times in the torso; she was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital. Apparently her boyfriend Eric McCormick, the father of the five-year-old, had given the girls $8 to buy chicken. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "They go, and when they come back, the door is ajar and the woman is on the floor."
A neighbor told NY1, "Her daughter came to my house and asked for some help. It was very panicky, very hectic. They didn't really know what to do," adding that she stayed with the girls while they waited for the ambulance. The News reports that the older daughter called her grandmother, "My mother is on the floor covered in blood."
The police released video of McCormick, 40, describing him as being 5'8" and 225 pounds. Gonzales's mother Ursula Gonzales told the News, "We know it was him. This was not the first time he hurt her. He’s a control freak. He’s controlling and abusive," recounting about her daughter was beaten while pregnant. The victim's brother added that his sister had an order of protection but it expired.
Anyone with information in regards to whereabouts of Eric McCormick is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
