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1st Wedding Anniversary Turns Heartbreaking As Woman Killed By Stray Bullet In Mexico
"A year ago, we were all worried about wedding flowers. Now a year later, we went to order flowers for her funeral," the victim's father said.
It was supposed to be a celebration of her first wedding anniversary. But Tatiana Mirutenko’s trip to Mexico City with her husband ended in tragedy.
Miruntenko, 27, of San Francisco, was leaving a taco restaurant in a wealthy part of Mexico City when she was shot by a stray bullet, according to the Associated Press. Gunmen on a motorcycle allegedly fired at a bouncer outside a nearby bar. That man was injured in the gunfire but survived.
The gunmen escaped after the shooting.
There was no indication the two victims knew each other, authorities said.
Mirutenko worked as an analyst at Nektar Therapeutics, which describes itself as a research-based development stage biopharmaceutical company, according to KTVU in San Francisco.
"Tatiana was a bright and passionate rising star,” her employer said in a statement. “Many throughout Nektar, and outside the company, valued her positive energy, insight and sheer enthusiasm for life."
Originally from Illinois, funeral services are being organized for Mirutenko in Chicago.
"A year ago, we were all worried about wedding flowers, now a year later, we went to order flowers for her funeral," her father, Wasyl Mirutenko, told WMAQ in Chicago.
Just days before her death, Mirutenko posted a photo on Instagram of her and her husband kissing at their wedding. The caption read, “Year 1” with a heart emoji. Her Instagram is full of photos of dogs, food and happier times.
She had moved to California three years ago for work. Mirutenko graduated from both Lake Forest Academy and Clemson University and has been described as an avid volleyball player.
Before the shooting, Mirutenko told her mom Natalia Mirutenko that she was having the best time.
“During their vacation in Mexico there were numerous texts back and forth, ‘You have to come back here, we’ve got to show you all the places we visited, all the food we ate, all the restaurants we saw. Mom, this place is amazing,’” Natalia told KTVU.
Mirutenko and her husband were in Mexico along with three other couples.
[Photo: Instagram]
