Mount Vernon woman fatally shot in the Bronx; gunman flees on moped
WAKEFIELD, Bronx (WABC) -- Police are searching for the gunman who fatally shot a 39-year-old Mount Vernon woman in the Wakefield section of the Bronx just after midnight on Tuesday.
The victim, identified as Julia Anderson, was shot twice in the chest in her Jeep Grand Cherokee on Murdock Avenue.
Shots were fired through the passenger-side window, striking Anderson, who was believed to be in the driver's seat.
Two shell casings were recovered at the scene. She was pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi.
Authorities say the suspect fled the scene on a moped and remains at large. Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
Family members shared a photo the victim and described her as a hardworking woman who worked with people with disabilities.
"My younger daughter came and she told me and my heart felt like it was going to come out," said the victim's mother Beverly Patterson.
Patterson says the 39-year-old had just finished work and was headed home less than a mile away in Mount Vernon.
"She usually comes home at 12 in the night, and usually when she comes home, I hear some kind of little noise, that's how I know she's home. But then I was like wondering what happened," Patterson said.
The victim's sister was too distraught to speak on camera, but said Anderson had just wrapped up a night shift as a caregiver at a group home for developmentally disabled adults in the Wakefield section of the Bronx.
Friends and coworkers said she was such a nice person.
"I felt so much for that poor girl, you don't know, I think I'll have a heart attack," said the victim's neighbor and coworker, George Henriques.
Loved ones said she was just one month away from her 40th birthday.
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