‘Thanksgiving is not going to be very easy:’ Mom asks for tips to find daughter’s killer

Kayshla Torres found shot in car in May

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A mother along with Orange County Sheriff’s Office detectives are witnesses to step forward in the case surrounding the death of 26-year-old Kayshla Torres.

Detectives hosted a news conference Wednesday with new details in the homicide.

Torres was found shot after a crash on May 29 by the 4100 block of Nashville Avenue. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died.

Detectives said Torres got into a physical altercation before the shooting.

They say Torres went to a Chevron gas station to pick up a friend around 9:10 p.m. that night. Surveillance video from the gas station shows as Torres was backing out of a parking spot she almost hit a man on a bicycle. The incident led to an altercation with that person.

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Deputies say the argument escalated, leading the two people out of the car as other men jumped in on the argument. The surveillance video shows multiple men fighting. Most of the people in the video have been identified, according to investigators.

“His bike got nipped by the car and then he threw something at the car , then he went to the car and he progressed it,” detective Joe Covelli said. “Was he hurt? No. But the driver made that poor mistake not looking? Yes. Did it need to escalate to that? No. It just all snowballed right then and there.”

Covalli said Torres tried to de-escalate the situation, pulling her passenger away from the situation and eventually driving away from the gas station.

At some point during the fight, Torres’ cell phone was stolen from her vehicle. When she realized her phone was missing, she drove down South Nashville Avenue, near the area of the altercation.

Investigators say that’s where Torres was shot in the neck, the impact of the shooting causing her to crash into a nearby mailbox. The people involved in the shooting left the scene.

“We know a witness saw this and that’s what we need to bring closure to the Torres family,” detective Joe Covelli said.

Covelli said Torres was not the intended target and that the bullet was planned for her passenger.

Torres leaves behind two children. One child is 3 years old, the other is 2.

“This is a very big tragic loss in our family’s lives,” Elizabeth Torres, Kayshla’s mother said.

Torres says she drives by the site of the shooting on her way home from work. She stops to pass out fliers to people and post notices on businesses.

“I’ve given out hundreds of fliers. I go every other day to the site to pass out fliers hoping I find someone that will have pity, some kind of mercy," she said. “It’s been 176 days that I did not get a call, did not get a text message. That was snatched from me, from her children.”

Torres’ mother said her daughter was a caring person with a good heart. She had recently finished her pharmacy technician certification and was preparing to enter a nursing program. When she died, her daughter was able to donate seven organs. Torres says she’s grateful the recipients are helping to keep her daughter’s memory alive, but it doesn’t make this time of year any easier.

“I know this is one of the hardest things in any mother’s life to spend their first holiday without their child,” she said. “Thanksgiving is not going to be very easy.”

There is a $5,000 reward available for any information that could lead to an arrest. Tips can anonymously be reported to Crimeline to (800) 423-8477.


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