One of the final things 31-year-old Gabriela Ochoa heard was the voice of someone trying to keep her alive saying “It’s gonna be okay.”
For safety, Ochoa, a CCL holder, insisted on accompanying her teenage nephew who was selling two hoodies but was was robbed instead, and fatally shot Saturday night in Bridgeport.
“I was checking her, trying to see what happened but she was already wheezing,” the witness, who isn’t being identified by the Sun-Times, said. “I was just trying to keep her awake, feeling for a pulse, a heartbeat.”
Ochoa approached a gray, Tesla Model X with her nephew who was using OfferUp in the 800 block of West 27th Street around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, according to Chicago police reports obtained by the Sun-Times.
Ochoa’s nephew, selling two black and white “denim tears” and “sp5der” hoodies, was supposed to meet the buyers at a provided address but they met halfway instead, according to the witness.
After messaging the potential buyers using the name “James Brown” on the app, they parked nearby as the witness waited in a car with Ochoas sister, also for safety, police reports said.
“It was kind of dark, rainy and a little sketchy,” the witness said.
“Everything is normal at first, [Ochoa’s nephew] lets the guys see the hoodies, check everything out, the witness said.
But when someone in the Tesla asked if Ochoa’s nephew had CashApp, and he said he didn’t, a rear seat passenger of the Tesla got violent. “Give me your stuff,” he said, according to the report.
“[The gunman] was like ‘So you don’t got CashApp?’ and that’s when he pointed a gun at [Ochoa’s nephew] and his aunt Gabriela,” he said.
Ochoa pulled her gun and tried to return fire but it jammed and they shot her, according to the witness.
The witness, still in the car, dove for cover when he heard the gunfire that sounded like fireworks before running to check on Ochoa, who was lying on the ground, and her nephew as the Tesla sped away west on 27th Street.
In the chaotic moments that followed the woman remained in the car “freaking out,” he tried calling 911 but the call failed and did not go through, and he began performing CPR and fanning her while a bystander called for help.
“I was like, ‘It’s gonna be okay, keep breathing’ but she was already cold and pale,” the witness said. “I tried to do what I could.”
Ochoa suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:04 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and police.
Three shell casings were recovered from the scene, according to police reports. No one was in custody as of Monday.
A relative of Ochoa declined to speak when reached by the Sun-Times.
“I was just scared and shocked,” the witness said. “I keep replaying it in my head.”