Bay Area Teen Shot Through Her Eye in a ‘Hate Crime,’ Family Says
Two teens were shot in San Francisco with one being hit in the eye in what the family is claiming to be a hate crime.
The incident: Jessica Dimalanta was out with four other friends, one male and three female, in the early morning of Sunday, March 21 to view sideshows in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sideshows are car stunt shows that may claim entire intersections or public streets as crowds gather to watch cars peel out and rev their engines.
- Dimalanta and her friends had been at one sideshow when the police came to disperse the crowd. The group then left to drive to another sideshow, according to SFPD.
- While at a stop, at the intersection of Quint St & Oakdale Ave, a number of suspects exited the vehicle in front of them and opened fire on their grey Lexus.
- Dimalanta, 19, and the 19-year-old male were hit. The other three friends were not injured.
- The suspects are believed to have fled the scene after. Dimalanta’s friends then drove her to UCSF Mission Bay Hospital in downtown San Francisco.
- Dimalanta arrived at the hospital at approximately 2:54 a.m. Their car was damaged by gunfire.
- Dimalanta and the other victim were transferred and admitted to SF General Hospital and were both in non-life-threatening conditions earlier this week.
- The investigation is still ongoing.
The victim: Jessica Dimalanta, 19, is from Vallejo, California. Dexter Martin, who says he’s Dimalanta’s uncle, created a GoFundMe page to help with her recovery.
- In the description, Martin describes a dark sedan that pulled up to the car Dimalanta was in as three men came out and began shooting.
- Dimalanta was hit in her face with the bullet having gone “straight through her right eye,” according to Martin.
- Doctors were reportedly able to remove a bullet, but some fragments remain embedded in her face.
- Martin says talking and eating bring her pain. She is also suffering from the emotional trauma the incident left.
- Martin called the incident a hate crime. A social media post on the page that appears to have been from Dimalanta’s mother also claims she was the victim of a hate crime. The police made no mention of a hate crime in their latest update.
- Dimalanta had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and tested positive for COVID, Martin says. She had turned 19 earlier in March.
- “Jessica is the sweetest, kind, caring person with an angelic voice, loves to sing and spend time with her family. She helps her single mother take care of her younger siblings, nieces, and nephews. She did not deserve to have to suffer like this. No one deserves this at all,” Martin wrote.
- Dimalanta’s family’s goal with the GoFundMe is to help pay for multiple therapies as part of her recovery. The campaign has raised over $29,000 of the $10,000 goal as of this writing.
Martin also used the crowdfunding platform to speak out against anti-Asian violence.
“We also want to bring awareness to the anti-Asian violence and racism that is evolving around us. Let’s, please work together to stop senseless violent hate crimes and continue to take care of one another. We are praying for past and current victims of these crimes, and hope we can move toward a safer and more inclusive society.”
This is a developing story, we will update it where necessary.
Feature Image via GoFundMe
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