LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Lauderhill police released harrowing 911 calls Friday, one day after announcing an arrest in the shooting death of 22-year-old Regina Vidal in late January. Authorities say it was a case of manslaughter, but Vidal’s mother believes there’s more to the story.
U.S. Marshals took Hugo Lazo into custody on Wednesday. Police said he was among a group of friends dancing at her apartment on Jan. 27.
Lazo, police said, was dancing with a gun in his hand. It went off and struck Vidal, killing her.
Lazo, 24, fled before police arrived to the Newport Condos, located at 2029 NW 46th Ave.
“Where’s the person that shot her?” a dispatcher asked a frantic 911 caller.
“I don’t know, I’m a minor, please do something, please,” the caller said.
Following Lazo’s arrest on a manslaughter charge, Vidal’s mother, Rae Marie Vidal, said she does not believe her daughter’s death was an accident.
“Whether it’s today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now, the truth will come out, because I’m not going to be quiet about it,” she said.
Rae Mari Vidal said she believes that those who were there when shots were fired are not telling the complete truth about what happened that night and that they need to take accountability for their actions.
“We have to hold them accountable and use them as an example for change so that no other mother, no other father, no other sibling, no other grandparent no other nephew or niece or cousin or best friend or teammate has to bury their child,” she said.
Lazo was being held without bond in the Broward County jail on a manslaughter charge.
Regina is the second daughter Rae Mari Vidal has lost. She lost one of Regina’s older sisters to suicide in 2020.
She said she never thought the universe would take one child away from her, let alone two.
“Hug your kids tighter. Be nice to people. Be kind,” Vidal said. “There is so much cruelty in this world.”
Loved ones are planning a walk in Regina Vidal’s memory Saturday. They plan to call for changes they say are needed to make communities safer.
Lauderhill police, responding to Rae Mari Vidal’s concerns, said their investigation was ongoing as of Friday.