Up-and-coming Latin music star and influencer Delarosa has been killed in an ambush-style shooting in Los Angeles.
The shooting, which killed Delarosa and critically wounded two others, took place in Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley, just before 1.30am on Saturday morning.
Officials from the LA Police Department (LAPD) identified the music star as 22-year-old Maria De La Rosa on Monday as part of a continuing investigation into the shooting.
The LAPD says gunmen approached a parked car on foot and began shooting multiple rounds at the passengers, in what they suspect was a gang-related attack.
In a statement released on Monday, the LAPD said: “Witnesses described seeing two male suspects approach a vehicle that was parked on Bryant Street,
“Multiple rounds were fired at several victims who were parked in the area in their vehicle.”
Investigators said there were three people inside the car when the shooting began, and all three were hit.
The shooting took place on Bryant Street, which is on a quiet block just east of Tampa Avenue in the Northridge neighbourhood.
Maria was rushed to a nearby hospital, but despite their best efforts, doctors were unable to save her.
Police have said that the two victims who survived the shooting remained in critical condition over the weekend.
Delarosa was a rising Latin music star with over 40,000 fans on Instagram, and recently released her single 'No Me Llames' in August.
After news broke of her tragic death, fans flooded her final Instagram post with words of grief and sympathy.
In one photo, she is seen with an electric guitar. The photo is captioned “Ocupada cocinando en el Stu,” meaning 'Busy cooking in the Stu[dio],' – suggesting she was working on new music in the lead up to her death.
Messages of condolence have also poured in from others in the Latin music scene, including Mexican-American record executives Jimmy Humilde and Juan Moises, as well as the frontman of Los Gemelos de Sinaloa.
Music producer and engineer Times J Martinez recalled how Maria was a young and talented musician.
In Spanish, he wrote: “It hurts that it happened with violence.”
Other moving tributes described feeling “heartbroken”, and remembering the musician’s “amazing soul.”
The LAPD has not released any information as to whether the attack was random or targeted, and the motive remains under investigation.
As detectives canvass the neighborhood, the department has not disclosed whether the attack appears targeted, random, or connected to any larger conflict.
At this stage, no arrests have been made, and LAPD officials said the motive is still under investigation.
