Phoenix mother still searches for answers after daughter was murdered in 2003 | Original Reporting

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Phoenix mother still searches for answers after daughter was murdered in 2003 | Original Reporting

PHOENIX (3TV / CBS 5) – Lynsey Chainhalt was a young girl, barely 20 years old. She drove her first car, which she bought with her own money. She attended college at Paradise Valley Community College, studied nursing, and should have had her whole life ahead of her. “She was unstoppable,” Lynsey’s mother Judi Petersen told the Arizona family. “She was a daredevil.” But in the early hours of June 14, 2003, Lynsey was brutally killed when she was gunned down in a barrage on a Phoenix street. The case has never been solved and no suspects have been charged. “You played God that night,” Petersen said of the people who killed their daughter. “It was a random moment and he ended her life.” Lynsey had driven three of her friends home from a party in the East Valley. Lynsey was the designated driver for the group. They were traveling north on I-17 near Greenway Parkway in Phoenix when another vehicle cut them off. “As they were driving north on Interstate 17, someone in a Tahoe or a blazer threw a beer bottle at them,” said former Phoenix detective William Shira. Police said there had been a verbal altercation and Lynsey tried to drive away. But the suspect car followed Lynsey and her friends to the 20th Street and Grovers Avenue area, north of Bell Road. Police said three Hispanic men got out of the car and opened fire on Lynsey’s car. According to the police, 19 shots were fired. The suspects then got back into the driven car. Police said 19 shots were fired at Lynsey and her friends. (Source: Phoenix Police Dept./Silent Witness) Lynsey’s friends were injured in the shooting but survived. One of these friends suffered a permanent injury. But Lynsey was hit in the head and killed. One thing Petersen said comforts her knowing that her daughter did not suffer. Lynsey died almost instantly in the shooting and probably felt no pain. “She almost never knew what hit her, the surgeon told me,” said Petersen. There were no other witnesses to what happened. And a lack of physical evidence left the police empty-handed. “They never found anything,” said Peterson. “But at least one person knows exactly what happened that night.” (Source: Phoenix Police Dept./Silent Witness) Two men were later named as persons of interest in the case. Investigators said Ricardo Sanchez-Molinares (aka “Butcho”) and Fermin Gomez (aka “Mini”) may have information about what happened. But the men are said to have traveled to Mexico and were never charged in the case. There have never been any arrests. “It’s one thing to know. It’s another thing to prove,” said Petersen. Lynsey’s mother says she will continue to search for her daughter’s murderer (s). “I never gave up,” she said. “Lynsey wouldn’t do it if it were me. I’m her lawyer now, I’m the only person who can speak for her. ”Lynsey’s death wasn’t the first tragedy to hit her family. Her 12-year-old brother was killed in a terrible accident three years before she was murdered. He was hit by a car while skateboarding. Petersen spoke to us about whether she had forgiven those responsible for the deaths of two of her three children. “I can forgive an accident,” she says. “But I cannot forgive a murder.” Today, almost 18 years after her daughter’s brutal murder, Petersen says she will continue to fight for justice and seek a degree. “I’ll follow them to the end of the world,” she told us, referring to her daughter’s murderers. (Source: family photo) In the meantime, Petersen enjoys spending time with her surviving daughter, who is now a surgical technologist. “She’s great,” she told us. She also has two grandchildren, 11 and 9 years old. The younger boy was born on the day Lynsey died. If you have any information on Lynsey’s case please call the silent witness at 480-WITNESS (948-6377) or 1-800-343-TIPS (8477). Spanish speakers can call 480-TESTIGO (837-8446). (Click or tap the phone number to call from this story on your mobile device.) You can remain anonymous at any time and may be eligible for a cash reward.[Click here for Silent Witness flyer]

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