STOCKTON, Calif. — It was a tear-filled drive from Southern California to Stockton Saturday for Rosemary Aceves, but it was one she had to make after learning her 18-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn Valdovinos, was shot and killed near Ernie Shropshire Park.
"I can't believe it," said Aceves while fighting tears and grasping onto a photo of her daughter. "I have no words... She should have gone (back) alive, and I (shouldn't) have to take her like this back home."
Police say the deadly shooting happened around 5 a.m. Friday. A 20-year-old woman was also hit by bullets but is expected to survive.
"She said she was going to go to Ross... That's the last time I heard from her," said Aceves. "We live in Lynwood, in the L.A. area, and she was here where her dad lives around here in Stockton. She was here just, he was going to teach her to drive and get her license and she was saving up for a car... and she was going to go back to L.A."
With the killer still on the loose and no known motive, Aceves and her family are hoping for justice.
"Turn yourself in," said Aceves. "Anyone that knows something, anyone that seen anything — anything — any little thing. Please, think about if it happened to you, if it happened to one of your family members, how would you feel? Because right now, we don't know anything. We just know that someone took her. Someone is responsible, and this person can't just be out here."
While holding her daughter's killer accountable is top of mind for Aceves, so is grieving and honoring the teen's life.
"None of my kids ever gave me trouble, none. She was an honor roll student, did good in school. She loved her siblings. She loved her cats," said Aceves. "I feel empty. I can't feel nothing. We need justice. Justice for Kaitlyn."
Witnesses and people with information are asked to call detectives at 209-937-8377. Stockton Crime Stoppers is offering anonymity and a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Information can be reported to crime stoppers at 209-946-0600.
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Watch more from ABC10: Two 20-year-old women were shot in a normally quiet south Stockton neighborhood
