New Year's celebrations in Fort Lauderdale ended in tragedy. Chris Dillon and his boyfriend, Angel Nunez, were welcoming 2025 with an affectionate embrace when a stray bullet ended Nunez's life. According to a statement obtained by NBC Miami, the couple shared what Dillon described as "the most beautiful kiss" right before Nunez collapsed to the ground and later succumbed to his injuries.
Surrounded by the sounds of New Year's Eve celebrations, unsuspecting of the impending danger, Dillon and Nunez's tender moment was shattered. Dillon said, "I did not think he was dead, I did not think he was dead," in an interview with NBC Miami. Upon lifting Nunez's shirt, Dillon discovered a small slit in his stomach, which turned out to be a fatal gunshot wound—possibly from a bullet inadvertently fired into the night sky as part of the festivities.
Just days earlier, Miami-Dade Police reported a stray bullet had taken the life of a 10-year-old girl in nearby Allapattah. "How insane is this, a 10-year-old girl and it's happened many times over the years," Dillon painfully reflected in a statement to NBC Miami, calling for accountability and a change to this fraught reality.
Angel Nunez was a 50-year-old father of two and partner to Dillon. "You shoot up in the air for fun, you can't do it in a city," Dillon remarked in an interview published by Local 10. He believes that the stray bullet came across the Middle River, from Wilton Manors, taking his boyfriend's life in a stroke of tragic happenstance.
The incident is under investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Police, as they explore all possibilities including the chance that Nunez was struck by a stray bullet. Those with information about the incident are urged to come forward and contact FLPD immediately. In the face of love and loss, Dillon's emotional outcry resonates: "It's heartbreaking," he told NBC Miami.
