Gunshot victim dies after police stop him on way to hospital


At 20 years old, Christian Merced had his whole life ahead of him.

His only sister Crystal Medina sat down with FOX25’s Malini Basu after Merced was shot to death in Beverly last week.

Merced was in town from Miami visiting his sick grandmother.

“He just came to visit because my grandmother is in the hospital and she's really sick,” Medina said.

He was shot to death a week ago in what the family believes was an accidental shooting. The shooting happened at his brother’s home in Beverly.

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Merced and his friend 19-year-old Justice Galarza were playing with a gun when it went off, killing Merced.

“I feel like it was an accident because Galarza went and turned himself in,” Medina told FOX25.

Police told FOX25 that Galarza now faces murder charges and remains behind bars.

Relatives said Merced died in his brother’s arms on the way to the hospital.

“He was trying to rush him to the hospital as the ambulance was taking too long. They got him in a car that my brother was holding him trying to rush him to the hospital. He actually got pulled over by the police,” Medina said.

Medina believes her brother could have survived if they didn't have to wait for the ambulance to get to her brother.

The family will say their final goodbyes to Merced Monday. He leaves behind four siblings and his mother.

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