Warning About Fake GoFund Me Campaigns For Melissa Ortega, 8-Year-Old Killed In Little Village
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Friends and family of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega, who was killed in a shooting in Little Village, are warning of scam online fundraisers.
Here is the link to the legitimate fundraiser, which raised nearly $69,000 as of Wednesday morning.
A third grader at Emiliano Zapata Academy, Melissa was new to Chicago, here since August, and excited to build a better life with her mother, both from Mexico.
Her family says she wanted to learn English, play in the snow, make a Build-A-Bear, and make TikTok dances with her friends.
But on her way from the bank to get a hamburger on Saturday afternoon, hand-in-hand with her mom in Little Village, gang violence stole all of that from her – and her from her family.
"She sought to achieve the American Dream but was instead given American Violence," her family said in a statement on Monday.
CBS 2's Tara Molina reports Chicago Police have announced they are saturating Little Village with extra officers in an effort to prevent retaliation as detectives seek help in bringing Melissa's killer to justice.
