OLD TOWN — A woman was shot in the head inside a Staten Island motel early Saturday morning, police said.
Police said the incident started after Michele Hernandez's alleged pimp got into an argument with a customer inside the bathroom of room 201 at the Cosmopolitan Motel, 1274 Hylan Blvd., a spokeswoman for the NYPD said.
The pimp then hit the customer with a bottle of Hennessy and Hernandez, 21, started to attack him, police said.
A friend of the customer entered the room and fired several shots in the room, with one hitting Hernandez in the back of the head, police said.
On Tuesday, her family said Hernandez didn't work as a prostitute and the incident started after the suspects tried to rob her for drugs she had inside the motel.
Her mother Marisol Hernandez, 42, said she had a 6-year-old son.
"She was very strong willed," she said.
"I'm not sure of what she was doing, I do know that she wasn't a prostitute."
Marisol Hernandez said she spoke to her daughter, who police said lived in Bushwick, the day of the shooting and talked about Easter plans. Her mother said she didn't know why she traveled to Staten Island on Saturday.
Police responded to a call about gunshots around 3:20 a.m. and Hernandez was taken to Staten Island University Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Hernandez died from her injuries on Sunday at 3:40 p.m., police said.
No arrests have been made and police said an investigation is ongoing.