A young scientist was brutally murdered in front of his fiancée after they made a wrong turn onto a darkened street while vacationing in Puerto Rico.
Omar Padilla Vélez, 33, was fatally-injured on January 3 while driving home from a ‘night of dancing and laughter’ with his partner Kelly Crispin.
The couple, from Philadelphia, had been out enjoying themselves on the popular Calle Cerra nightlife strip and were driving back to Padilla Vélez’s family home.
He turned into a pitch black side street that he thought would take them onto a freeway, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
But their car was quickly surrounded by a dozen men armed with AR-15s, Crispin said. Her fiancé tried to drive away, only for the gang to fire a barrage of bullets that tore through the car and shattered the windows.
Padilla Vélez, who had been struck in the head, then turned to Crispin and said: ‘I’ve been shot.’
A gang member, seemingly realizing they attacked the wrong vehicle, yelled that a woman was in the car and to hold fire, she recalled.
The gang took her phone and searched her purse, returned her items and gave them directions for getting out of the neighborhood.
Crispin and a friend, who had been riding with them, moved Padilla Vélez to the backseat. She applied pressure to his wounds as her friend drove off.
They called 911 and were met my paramedics at a nearby gas station. Padilla Vélez, 33, was transported to Centro Médico de Puerto Rico hospital and died from a stroke caused by the bullet fragment a few days later.
Kelly Crispin and her fiancé Omar Padilla Vélez were attacked in Puerto Rico by a gang of armed men in the early hours of January 3 after they mistakenly drove down the wrong road
Padilla Vélez died, 33, after being struck in the head when the gang fired a barrage of bullets into their vehicle
The shooting occurred at the intersection of Calle Blanca and Calle La Nueva Palma. Crispin said San Juan police told her that the street is run by a gang
Crispin was shot in her hand and shoulder, and suffered graze wound to the back of her head. Her friend was uninjured in the attack.
Padilla Vélez died in the hospital, but Crispin said that two days after the attack they managed to say I love you one last time while he was briefly stable.
‘He told me that he loved me, and I told him that I loved him, too,’ she told the Inquirer. ‘And he said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Then he fell asleep.’
He suffered a stroke that same day and was later pronounced brain dead. His organs were donated and saved several lives, she said.
Crispin and Padilla Vélez started dating after they met at their best friends’ wedding three years ago. They got engaged last September.
She is struggling to cope with the horrific loss and mourning what should have been a life-long future together.
‘So much was stolen from us in just a moment. Our promise of marriage, children, and growing old together,’ Crispin wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
‘But what can never be stolen from us is the beautiful life we built together, full of laughter and love.’
Crispin and Padilla Vélez started dating after they met at their best friends’ wedding three years ago. They got engaged last September
Crispin is struggling to cope with the horrific loss of her fiancé and mourning what should have been a life-long future together
Speaking directly to Padilla Vélez, she added: ‘I love you so much. I will carry you with me always, and I will never stop loving you.’
No arrests have been made in connection with his murder. Crispin is frustrated by how San Juan police have handled the case and claims their is ‘no pressure’ on officers to solve it.
She alleged that detectives did not visit the crime scene until five days after the shooting or interview her until January 21.
The homicide detective investigating her case reportedly told her that her fiancé was killed on a gang-run street and that locals have refused to talk out of fear of retaliation.
He also reportedly described the shooting as likely being a ‘case of mistaken identity.’
Crispin is also upset by the lack of media coverage about the shooting.
‘No one knows that this very smart, young Puerto Rican man was murdered,’ she told WTXF. ‘No one knows that a tourist down there was shot multiple times.’
Padilla Vélez grew up in Puerto Rico but moved to the US in 2013 to pursue his PhD in chemistry at Cornell University.
Padilla Vélez grew up in Puerto Rico but moved to the US in 2013 to pursue his PhD in chemistry at Cornell University. He is pictured with Crispin
Crispin, seen with her dog, is frustrated by how San Juan police have handled Padilla Vélez’s case and claims their is ‘no pressure’ on officers to solve it
He relocated to Philadelphia in 2022 after the pair had dated long-distance for about a year. He was working as a senior scientist for DuPont, a chemicals company.
Crispin, a University of Florida graduate, is a renewable energy specialist and currently works for Novel Energy Solutions, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Daily Mail has approached Crispin and San Juan police for comment.
