Still no justice for Stephanie Nicole

MANILA, Philippines - Justice remains elusive for Stephanie Nicole Ella, the seven-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet during the 2012 New Year’s Eve revelry in Caloocan City.

Stephanie Nicole was watching fireworks outside her home in Malaria district when a stray bullet hit her in the head.

The victim’s family will mark her first death anniversary on Jan. 2, but the one who fired the gun that killed her remains scot-free.

Her death sparked outrage and revived calls for a total gun ban.

The victim’s family had expressed disappointment over the failure of authorities to arrest the suspect in the killing of Stephanie Nicole.

Her family moved to Las Piñas City to forget the tragedy that befell them but the thought that the killer of Stephanie Nicole is still on the loose keeps haunting them.

“We still cry for justice for Nicole and hope that she will be the last victim of indiscriminate firing. We do not want other families to suffer the pain of losing a loved one the way we did,” the girl’s father, Aquilino Ella Jr., said in a television interview.

Police have questioned several suspects in Stephanie Nicole’s death but no one has been charged.

Meanwhile, the Caloocan police have launched Oplan Bandillo to crack down on loose firearms that could be used in indiscriminate firing to welcome the New Year.