The 15-year-old girl who was hit by a bullet while watching a fireworks display on New Year’s Eve in Malabon passed away on Wednesday night.

A report sent to National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde said Emelyn Villanueva was declared dead by Dr. Christian Perolina at 6:12 p.m.

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She passed away in the surgical intensive care unit of the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.

When asked by the Inquirer minutes before, P02 Maria Teresa Dagman, case investigator, said the girl was “still in a coma.”

“Her condition has not changed. There are no developments,” she said, quoting information from Melody Labrador, a staff of Barangay San Agustin where the victim is from.

This was despite a media report saying Villanueva’s condition had improved, as she no longer had any fever.

A staff from the hospital confirmed that the girl was still in the surgical ICU as of 5 p.m., but refused to give further details, saying only relatives could have access to that information.

Villanueva was watching a fireworks display near her home at 11:45 p.m. when she was struck by the bullet in the head.

At a news conference, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial was teary-eyed when she announced Villanueva, a scholar, was one of the four victims of indiscriminate firing during the holiday season.

The police, however, clarified that the one who fired the bullet did so deliberately, although the teenager was not the target.

In the report sent to Albayalde, Villanueva was, however, referred to as a “stray victim.”

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READ MORE: Autopsy to be done on girl hit by stray bullet on New Year – DOH

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