Grieving mother seeks answers in teen’s death
With her only child gone, Lina Cuartas is left with unanswered questions after her daughter was mysteriously killed last month.
The only solid information she has about how Laura Gomez Cuartas died is from her death certificate: a gunshot wound to the chest.
Detectives are mum as they continue to investigate what happened to the 18-year-old Cypress Creek High School senior, who died three weeks ago.
“Laura still needs me,” Cuartas said. “I have to get justice for her. It’s not fair what happened to her.”
Gomez Cuartas died at a friend’s house March 30, according to the death certificate issued by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s office. Her mother said Orange County Sheriff’s Office detectives told her she stopped at the house after school. She was supposed to be at work at 4 p.m.
Deputies were called to the house in the 12100 block of Bellsworth Way south of Orlando just before 3 p.m., Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deputy Rose Silva said. Investigators said in a news
release that Gomez Cuartas’ shooting was first reported as an attempted suicide, but her injuries suggested otherwise. They did not elaborate.
Medics declared her dead at the scene, Silva said. After an autopsy, the medical examiner’s office listed Gomez Cuartas’ death as a homicide.
Deputies are now investigating the case as an “undetermined death,” according to the Sheriff ’s Office.
“My daughter did not commit suicide,” Cuartas said. “She was very happy. She had everything I could give her.”
A bright future
The sticker reading “proud parent of an honor student” still clings to Cuartas’ mirror at home.
With fewer than two months before she was to graduate from high school, Gomez Cuartas “had everything set up,” her mother said. She’d just gotten a new car, had been accepted to Valencia College and planned to become a special education teacher.
Gomez Cuartas was deeply involved in school, participating in the high school’s theater group and serving as president of Best Buddies, a club that pairs members with special needs students. Last year, she attended the Best Buddies leadership conference in Indiana, according to her teacher, Melissa Trujillo.
“One summer, she even took the initiative to take a course on American Sign Language so that she could communicate better with some of the students in the club,” Trujillo said. “The kids loved her so much, and she loved them even more.”
It was a natural draw for the girl who, at 14, had to start caring for her mother. Cuartas went legally blind four years ago and had to quit her job.
“She was in charge of the house,” Cuartas said. “She started working at the mall and Panera.”
The teen also got her driver’s license so she could take her mother around town. Months before her death, Gomez Cuartas got a job working at Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter — a “dream job” for the Harry Potter fanatic, her mother said.
It was the least she could do for the mother she so respected, said Gomez Cuartas’ ex-boyfriend, Marcus Ralston, 23.
“She was close to her family,” he said. “She always gave me a hard time if I was disrespectful to my parents.”
There was a schoolwide moment of silence for Gomez Cuartas after her death, Orange County Public Schools spokeswoman Lorena Hitchcock said. The Cypress Creek High School yearbook will have a special tribute to her, as well.
Her last hours
Ralston last spoke to Gomez Cuartas about an hour before her death. The two had broken up about a month prior, but were still speaking regularly.
“It haunts me,” Ralston said. “I never lost feelings for her.”
School had let out at 1:45 p.m. that day, Hitchcock said. By about 3 p.m., Gomez Cuartas had been shot, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Cuartas said she did not know her daughter had gone to the friend’s house. The teen usually contacted her mother when school let out, but March 30 was different.
“I asked [over text message] if she ate,” Cuartas said. “I told her tomorrow I was going to give her a cheese sandwich for work.”
The mother’s texts went unanswered.
The next contact Cuartas had was a knock at her door. She remembers the time exactly: 6:51 p.m.
“A detective came to my house and told me [her daughter had been shot],” she said. “I was beside myself. I lost it.”
Questions remain
Gomez Cuartas’ death certificate says she was “shot by other with handgun.”
Detectives won’t release details on the case, citing the ongoing investigation. The Sheriff ’s Office has not publicly said if they think the death was suspicious.
The Orlando Sentinel has asked repeatedly for information on the investigation. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said releasing more details — even to the victim’s mother — could jeopardize the investigation.
“Detectives tell me that
they have spoken with the mother of the victim extensively and this case is actively being worked by our homicide squad and is a high priority,” he said.
Cuartas said she now spends her days calling detectives and visiting her daughter’s grave.
“Laura was my only daughter — my only child. My house is empty,” she said. “I’m the victim. They are supposed to give me the updates. I have to be on top of the case.”
Three weeks later — with no answers for what happened — she said she can’t
fully grieve yet.
“Nothing is going to bring my daughter back to me,” Cuartas said. “When I feel justice [has been served], then I’m going to be able to cry.” cdoornbos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6931