MANILA, Philippines — Debby Mercado, 36, went to bed in her home on Pacheco Street in Tondo, Manila Tuesday night and never woke up.
Three masked gunmen barged into Mercado’s house and shot her as she slept before escaping in an SUV.
Her mother, Patricia, said the household was wakened by the sound of gunshots.
“Hindi ako mapakali … bumangon ako, tiningnan ko (sa likod ng) kurtina, nakita ko parang maitim na ‘yung kamay niya (I could not contain myself … I got up, looked behind the curtain, I saw her hand had begun to blacken),” she said.
Patricia admitted her daughter was a drug user but stressed she did not peddle narcotics.
She added that she constantly told Debby to quit drugs because she feared the fate that might befall her.
Debby promised to do so after the New Year’s.