In the blink of an eye, a routine family trip to a fast-food drive-through degenerated into a scene of chaotic gunfire and survival. For 11-year-old Dora Belen Rivera and her family, the simple act of waiting for a meal outside a South Florida McDonald’s turned into a terrifying brush with death that has altered their lives forever.
On June 27, Dora was sitting in a parked car outside the restaurant in Hallandale Beach. Alongside her were her father, Oscar Roman Miron, and her two younger siblings, ages two and five. They were waiting for their food, anticipating nothing more than a quiet evening together.
Instead, an ordinary parking lot transformed into a shooting gallery when an 18-year-old McDonald’s employee arriving for his shift became embroiled in a violent altercation. Within seconds, gunfire erupted across the asphalt. One of those bullets shattered the car window, striking 11-year-old Dora directly in the head. Her father was hit in the leg, while the two youngest children miraculously escaped physical injury.
Dora was rushed into emergency surgery, where doctors fought to stabilize her. Ultimately, medical teams had to make a high-stakes decision: they determined that attempting to extract the bullet from her brain would cause far greater neurological damage than leaving it where it lay. The projectile remains inside her head, marking the start of a long, arduous journey of specialized medical treatments and intense physical rehabilitation.
“It Feels Like I Have Another Chance”
Yet, out of the darkness of the trauma ward came a moment of profound, humbling clarity. Speaking publicly for the very first time since emerging from major brain surgery, Dora’s first words were not defined by fear or anger, but by an extraordinary wave of grace.
Rather than focusing on the terror of her injuries, the young girl chose to use her voice to thank the network of strangers who kept her alive.
“Thank you for everything,” Dora said softly from her recovery bed. “Thank you for the police. Thank you for the firefighters. Thank you for the doctors. It feels like I have another chance.”
While her father has since been formally discharged from the hospital to oversee his daughter’s care, the psychological scars running through the household are deep. The family notes that the sheer terror of that evening has left them profoundly traumatized.
Caught in the Crossfire of an 18-Year-Old’s Rage
As detectives piece together the evidence, Hallandale Beach police have explicitly confirmed what the family already knew: they were completely innocent bystanders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Surveillance footage obtained by NBC Miami captured the terrifying anatomy of the dispute. The video shows an unidentified man chasing 18-year-old McDonald’s employee Ralph N-Kosi Blue III through the parking lot. Seeking safety, the fleeing man took cover directly on the opposite side of the SUV where Dora and her family were trapped in their seats.
The security footage then captures Blue raising a handgun and opening fire toward his rival, showing a reckless disregard for the vehicle caught directly in his line of sight.
The legal fallout for the teenage shooter was swift. Blue has been arrested and hit with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, alongside two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In the wake of the shooting, the franchise owner of the Hallandale Beach McDonald’s issued a statement confirming that Blue’s employment has been terminated.
A Long Road to Rehabilitation
Though the immediate threat to Dora’s life has passed, the reality of a long-term medical battle is just beginning to set in. The burden on the household is immense, with the father sidelined from work as he pours all of his energy into guiding his eldest daughter through her upcoming therapy sessions.
To help mitigate the crushing financial pressure of the tragedy, the family has launched a GoFundMe campaign. The grassroots fund is designed to cover the compounding costs of specialized rehabilitation, lost wages, and the everyday living expenses required to keep the household running while they navigate this new chapter.
As the criminal case against the former fast-food worker begins to move through the Florida court system, a brave 11-year-old girl is adjusting to life with a bullet still resting inside her head—clinging tightly to the fragile, beautiful reality of her second chance.