Gabriella Hanley

Gabriella Gina Hanley, known to family and friends as Gabi, was a 20-year-old mother from Jensen Beach, Florida, who was shot and killed in Port St. Lucie in October 2021. She was born in Denville, New Jersey, and moved to Florida as a small child, living in Jensen Beach for about 17 years. Her obituary remembered her as a loving mother to her baby daughter, Jayana, and as a beautiful soul with a heart of gold who was cherished by her family and friends.

By the autumn of 2021 Gabi was working as a server at a local pizza restaurant and raising her daughter, who was about 14 months old. Her mother, Nicole Vigilante, later told CBS12 News, "I was so proud of her. The mom that she was... now her daughter is going to grow up without a mother." Gabi was Nicole's only child.

On the evening of 5 October 2021, Gabi worked her shift at the restaurant. Afterward she and her boyfriend, Darrick Mincey Jr., the father of her daughter, set off toward the home of his mother, who was babysitting their little girl that night. At about 11:30 p.m., as their black 2018 Kia Forte travelled south on Southeast Green River Parkway near Southeast Charleston Drive, another vehicle pulled alongside and opened fire. Police later counted 37 bullet impacts on the car, and forensic evidence showed the rounds came from two separate rifles. Reports differ on which of the two was driving. Gabi was struck multiple times. Officers and rescue crews tried to save her, but she was pronounced dead on 6 October 2021. Mincey was wounded and survived. Relatives have said they believe he was the intended target and that Gabi was an innocent victim in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Port St. Lucie police described the attack as targeted. Within days they released images of a newer model silver Nissan Altima with dark tinted windows, which they believed had been rented between 4 and 7 October 2021, and on 15 October they named three persons of interest, two adult half brothers and a juvenile. Police stressed that the three were not considered suspects and they were never charged. The Altima was never found.

As months and then years passed without an arrest, Gabi's family refused to let her be forgotten. Nicole Vigilante gave interviews to WPTV and CBS12 in 2022, pleading for anyone with information to come forward while she raised her granddaughter. "Their family is enjoying their kids, tucking their kids in, and I'm here sitting where I don't have Gabriella. It's just not fair," she said. A makeshift memorial grew at the spot where Gabi was shot, and on the second anniversary a photograph of her and flowers arranged in the shape of a heart stood near Southeast Green River Parkway and Southeast Melaleuca Boulevard.

In September 2023 her cousin Krystle Benitez started a Change.org petition called Justice for Gabi, asking the State Attorney's Office and city leaders to re-examine the case. It gathered more than 1,500 signatures. In October 2023 relatives and family friends, including Michelle Pouch, who had known Gabi since she was a child, rallied for an arrest. "We want justice. We want an arrest," Benitez said. The State Attorney's Office for the 19th Judicial Circuit and Port St. Lucie police said the investigation remained active.

On the fifth anniversary in October 2026, Port St. Lucie police renewed their appeal, saying detectives were still conducting interviews and examining forensic and digital evidence. No one has been charged. Anyone with information is asked to call the Port St. Lucie Police Department at 772-871-5000 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS (8477).

Gabi is remembered as a devoted young mother, a loyal friend and a daughter whose family has spent years fighting for answers. Her daughter, now growing up in her grandmother's care, is the reason her loved ones say they will keep speaking her name.