The grief left in the wake of last week's San Bernardino massacre remains unbearable. The terror attack on the Inland Regional Center carried out by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik on Wednesday claimed 14 lives, including 31-year-old Santa Ana resident Tina Nguyen. But the deaths of two other victims, Aurora Godoy and Yvette Velasco, directly affected their relatives living in OC.
Godoy lived in San Jacinto and, at 26 years old, was the youngest victim of the massacre. Godoy is survived by many, including the Quiñonez family. The Weekly profiled her cousin, Eddie Quiñonez, in a cover story about his life Anaheim last year.
“I just got off work when I saw that I had a bunch of missed calls from my mom,” Quiñonez says of that tragic day. Follow-up text messages carried the unfortunate news. “The last time I saw my cousin Aurora was when I drove out for her baby shower. She was a fun-loving person with a bubbly personality.”
A profile on the San Bernardino County Sun portrays Godoy as a woman just starting her life with a husband, James, their young baby, Alexander, a home and a new job she loved at the San Bernardino County Department of Environmental Health. She loved spending time with family at Disneyland. A GoFundMe page raising costs for funeral expenses is nearing its goal.
The other life cut far too short by terror belonged 27-year-old Fontana resident Yvette Velasco. She worked as an environmental specialist for San Bernardino County. Like Godoy, Velasco has family in OC. The Weekly profiled her aunt Denise Velasco for our first-ever People Issue edition. Denise's sister Mindy Velasco, who lives in Westminster, is a year younger than Yvette and the two grew up together.
“My mom contacted me worried because we have family that works for the county. I reached out to Yvette's older sister and she said Yvette couldn't be located,” Mindy says. “She was a huge part of my childhood. I feel so blessed to have known her. I know she was a charitable person who took on a huge role in her nieces and nephews life.”
The immediate family hasn't granted in-person interviews to press during their time of grief but did offer gratitude to those who've helped them. “We, the Velasco family, have received an outpour[ing] of kind words and consideration for the passing of our beloved Yvette in the recent San Bernardino tragedy,” reads a statement on her funeral fundraising GoFundMe page. “Though it will never compensate for having her here in our arms, it would bring us great appreciation to be able to provide her with a beautiful service to match her beautiful soul.”
Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!