‘Please don’t kill me’: Henrico woman recounts car theft, being held at gunpoint

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Graciela Montecino had just pulled into her driveway on Chamberlayne Avenue in Henrico around 8:30 p.m. Friday night when a stranger suddenly opened her passenger side door.

"I was going to get out of the car when my passenger door opened and I thought, ‘Oh, it must be my brother’… and then I saw two guns,” Montecino said.

She said two men in ski masks and black clothing pointed their weapons at her and shouted for her to get out of the car. The suspects then took off in her 2022 black Toyota Camry.

“I was thinking, ‘Okay, please don’t kill me, please don’t shoot me -- I’m only 23 years old, I have plans, I have dreams that I want to achieve, I want a family, I want to live my life,’” Montecino said.

While officers with the Henrico County Police Division responded within minutes, the vehicle and suspects remain missing.

The stolen vehicle contained several of her belongings, including credit cards -- some of which have since been used.

“They stole $200 at an ATM nearby,” she said. “The detective was trying to see what time those cards were being used. It all seems to be around where the Richmond Raceway is."

Montecino said she’s struggling to return to a sense of normalcy after the incident.

“I saw his [a suspect's] eyes and the gun that was very close to my face -- and I actually dream about his eyes,” she said. “I’ve been having nightmares about it constantly. Every time I close my eyes, or when I’m in the dark, I can just see him still there.”

Police continue to investigate. Anyone who has information or who may have seen the stolen vehicle, with a license plate number of TMY-6635, is asked to contact the Henrico County Police Division.