Christiana Mae "Chrissy" Duarte, a 22-year-old woman, was full of life and at the dawn of her career when her future was tragically cut short. A recent graduate from the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management, she had just begun a new job as a fan service associate for the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. On the night of October 1, 2017, Christiana was attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, a weekend of country music under the desert sky.
That evening, a
gunman, later identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on the unsuspecting crowd from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Chaos and terror erupted as more than 1,000 rounds rained down on the concertgoers. In the midst of this horrific act of violence, Christiana was fatally wounded. Her family and friends were initially unable to locate her in the aftermath, a period of agonizing uncertainty that ended with the confirmation of her death on October 3, 2017.
The investigation that followed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history revealed that Paddock acted alone. He had meticulously planned the attack, bringing an arsenal of firearms to his hotel room in the days leading up to the shooting. After his deadly assault, Paddock was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, leaving behind no clear explanation for his actions. To this day, the motive behind the massacre that claimed the lives of 60 people and injured hundreds more remains officially undetermined. No arrests were made in connection with the shooting as Paddock was the sole perpetrator.
