Family pleads for answers after young woman killed during Phoenix home break-in

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A Phoenix family is desperate for answers after a young woman was shot and killed during a home break-in. Yet, nearly a week after, there are still few details about how it happened and why. Family says Destiny Hernandez was at her boyfriend’s home at the time, but they don’t even know if he was the second person injured.

“It’s so frustrating, and that’s really what’s killing us now. We can’t seem to piece; we don’t know nothing yet,” Marlene Estrada, Destiny’s sister, said.

Estrada said she arrived on the scene less than 30 minutes after she learned her baby sister had been shot. However, it took many more hours for her to find out that Destiny was dead.

It happened last Wednesday night near 83rd Avenue and Broadway Road. Phoenix Police said Destiny was shot several times during the break-in. A man was also injured, but investigators haven’t specified who he is. “It was her boyfriend but we only met him once,” Estrada said. “We would like to hear the side of the story since he was there, and we haven’t heard nothing.”

In the meantime, the family clings to photos of Destiny, who lived with her grandmother and had a passion for doing makeup and nails. “She was the best, she was always in a good mood, she was uplifting others, she cared for everyone,” Estrada said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover memorial and funeral expenses. If you would like to donate, click/tap here. “We’re asking for help in these very difficult times,” Estrada said.

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