A breaking news report from gossip site TMZ claims that former America’s Next Top Model contestant Mirjana Puhar was killed on Tuesday evening. The 19-year-old model was one of the three victims connected to a fatal shooting, which occurred at the Charlotte, N.C. home of her boyfriend, Jonathan Alvarado.
TMZ reported in an update that the other two victims were 23-year-old Alvarado and 21-year-old Jusmar Gonzaga-Garcia. Jusmar and Alvarado were roommates. The three were believed to have been murdered sometime late Tuesday. A concerned friend reportedly went to the home after gunshots were heard.
It was then that he found the bodies of Mirjana and her boyfriend. The startled man called police after discovering Puhar and Alvarado, but he did not see the body of Gonzaga-Garcia. The witness said that there was money scattered throughout the home.
The triple homicide is in the early stages of investigation, but Charlotte police officials believe the early evidence suggests the shooting deaths were drug-related. Police also suspect that the three victims all knew the shooter.
Officials believe the man responsible for killing Mirjana Puhar and the other two victims is 19-year-old Emmanuel Jesus Rangel.
Emmanuel Jesus Rangel has also been charged in connection with a murder in Matthews on Sunday, CMPD said. pic.twitter.com/yB42nSekbH
— Elisabeth Arriero (@EArriero) February 25, 2015
Rangel was arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with three counts of 1st degree murder. He is also thought to be responsible for a shooting homicide that happened over the weekend in Matthews, N.C.
Mirjana Puhar is known to ANTM fans because she was a participant in the 21st cycle of the series. That season aired last year. Puhar was eliminated from America’s Next Top Model during the tenth episode.
Friends of Mirjana say that the deceased model had only dated Jonathan Alvarado for a few months prior to the incident. Puhar had reportedly moved into the home not too long before the tragic triple homicide took place.
As the news of Mirjana Puhar’s untimely death spreads, there has been an outpouring of grief.
Keith Carlos, who was on America’s Next Top Model with Mirjana Puhar posted a photo of the two of them on his Twitter account.
I Love You @mirjanapuhar #RIP #ANTMCycle21 pic.twitter.com/jzea4JlY0q
— Mr. ANTM (@Keith_Carlos) February 25, 2015
Although the police suspect that the deaths of the three victims were tied to a drug deal gone wrong, there has been nothing yet stated by the police which would suggest that Mirjana was directly involved. It’s possible that she was an unfortunate bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The death of Mirjana Puhar is the latest sad outcome for certain former ANTM contestants . As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Renee Always struggled with drug addiction to such a degree that her family was seeking counseling for her. Always, who was a finalist on Top Model during Cycle 8, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted for armed robbery, fraud, and drug possession.
[Image Credit: Mirjana Puhar Facebook ]