A Florida man is mourning the unexpected loss of his boyfriend, who was apparently killed by a stray bullet fired in celebration of the New Year.
Angel Nunes, 50, was apparently hit by the stray bullet moments after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Nunes immediately collapsed into her boyfriend’s arms and was later pronounced dead from her injuries.
Before the fatal countdown, she made the last-minute decision to visit her boyfriend, Chris Dillion, 68, at his Fort Lauderdale home after celebrating in the city with friends.
The 50-year-old arrived at Dillion’s home in the 700 block of Northeast 17th Court moments before midnight hoping to ring in the New Year with his lover.
“At 11:58, I’m surprised,” Dillon recalled. ‘He says, “Are you home?” He turns the corner and has a big smile on his face. “Hey,” he says, “I didn’t want you to spend New Year’s alone, so I ran here.”
The couple then left Dillion’s house and headed to the pool deck area behind the house.
“I grabbed the back of his neck and he grabbed the back of my neck and forcefully gave him the most beautiful kiss, it was so beautiful, I stepped back, I said, ‘I love you,’ he said, ‘I love you,’ and then he fell,” Dillon said. .
Angel Nunes (left), 50, is believed to have been the victim of a stray bullet after collapsing in the arms of her boyfriend, Chris Dillion (right), moments after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Nunes (pictured) made the last-minute decision to visit her boyfriend, Chris Dillion, 68, at his Fort Lauderdale home just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, after celebrating in the city with friends.
“I didn’t think he was dead.”
Dillon frantically tried to pick Nunez up, but he didn’t respond.
Using his 40 years of experience as an airline flight attendant and his medical training, Dillon said he attempted to tend to Nunes’ injury with the help of an emergency dispatcher over the phone.
Lifting his shirt, the distraught boyfriend discovered a “less than an inch” indentation on Nunez’s stomach.
Police and paramedics showed up and hours later pronounced her beloved boyfriend dead.
“I cried, I started sobbing on the floor,” Dillon said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Dillon says she thought she saw a “spark” when a projectile entered her boyfriend’s lower left side.
“It came from those trees,” Dillon told the South Florida Solar Sentinelas he points out an area between his house and the Middle River that contains palm trees.
The couple then left the house and headed to the pool deck area behind the house (pictured). “I grabbed the back of his head and he grabbed the back of my head and forcefully gave him the most beautiful kiss, it was so beautiful, he stepped back, I said, “I love you,” he said, “I love you.” and then he fell,” Dillon said.
Police and paramedics showed up and hours later pronounced her beloved boyfriend dead. “I cried, I started sobbing on the floor,” Dillon said. “It’s heartbreaking”
Nunes had been facing away from the canal, Dillon recalled.
—I was just passing by. Police said that’s where it seemed to come from.
Fort Lauderdale police are now investigating whether Nunez, 50, was hit by a stray bullet as suspected.
Núñez’s death was not the only victim caused by a stray bullet, as that same night, the death of another Surfloridan was attributed to a “celebration” round.
Just four minutes into 2025, an adorable 10-year-old girl was murdered in front of her home in Allapattah, after she was hit in the head by a stray bullet and is believed to have also been shot in celebration of the New Year.
Yanelis Munuguia, who had just celebrated her 10th birthday on December 26, was celebrating the New Year with her family when the stray bullet hit her in the head around 12:04 a.m. Wednesday.
The innocent girl immediately collapsed to the ground outside her family’s home in the 2100 block of Northwest 27th Avenue in Allapattah, sending the family into a panic.
Her parents noticed a gunshot wound in the back of little Yanelis’s head.
Now frantic, in the middle of a lively New Year’s celebration outside their home, the family put the girl in a car with the intention of taking her to the hospital and called 911.
Yanelis Munuguia, 10, was celebrating the New Year with her family when a stray bullet hit her in the head around 12:04 a.m. Wednesday.
The innocent girl immediately collapsed to the ground outside her family’s home in the 2100 block of Northwest 27th Avenue in Allapattah.
“Every time she came, she was always happy to see me and now I can’t stand entering her house and not being able to see her again,” said Yanelis’ grandfather, Ramón Valdizón. ‘My soul hurts. I can’t bear to enter that house and never see it again.’
Hialeah Fire Rescue eventually intercepted the family and took Yanelis to Jackson Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
‘Firing a gun into the sky has consequences. Who paid? A little girl,’ said Yanelis’ relative, Carlos Gutiérrez, through tears.
‘What did the girl do? Nothing. What was her fault? But that’s how things are.
Miami-Dade police believe the unidentified shooter may have been shooting wildly into the air to celebrate the start of 2025.
“We talk over and over every year about the fact that what goes up must come down,” Detective Andre Martin told CBS News.
‘This is an excellent example of the dangers of firing a firearm indiscriminately into the air. We have a 10-year-old girl who lost her life at the beginning of the year.’