Nicole’s killing remains unsolved

MANILA, Philippines - Almost two years after seven-year-old Stephanie Nicole Ella was killed by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve, police seem to have given up hope and have declared the case unsolved.

During a command conference at Camp Karingal, Quezon City, the Northern Police District (NPD) submitted the case of Ella as unsolved.

After presentation, the case was properly turned over to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and declared it a cold case.

Caloocan chief of police Senior Superintendent Bartolome Bustamante reported the case to Superintendent Edgar Cariaso, NPD chief of investigation division.

Cariaso earlier issued a memorandum to the Caloocan police north extension office in the Bukid Area to gather documents and report any development on Ella’s case.

Bustamante, who assumed office last month, said the CIDG started their own investigation and visited the area where Ella was killed and talked to her family on Sept. 30.

“Arrests were made. But in the absence of evidence that they fired the gun, the suspects were released for further investigation,” he said.

Bustamante said they talked to Ella’s relatives who expressed disappointment “over the seeming lack of justice.”

The family reportedly moved to Las Piñas after the incident and had been trying to avoid their house in Caloocan “because of the trauma.”

They said they are praying that no similar incident happens again to innocent people, Bustamante said.