University of Arizona graduate Christiana Duarte, 21, is one of 59 people to be killed on Sunday in Las Vegas during the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. Duarte had just graduated from college in May, and was an avid country music fan. Her body was identified a day after the shooting by her friend.
The shooting occurred on Sunday at around 10 P.M. when suspected mass shooter 64-year-old Stephan Paddock opened fire from his room on the 32nd floor of a Mandalay Bay hotel, across the street from the concert. He fired down upon the crowd below, causing 59 deaths and 527 injuries. Authorities are still investigating the motive in the shooting, and they are still clueless as to why someone would shoot so many people.
On Monday, Duarte’s death was confirmed by a friend to The Daily Breeze.
Who was Christiana Duarte?
Twitter
Christiana Duarte was a 21-year-old recent college graduated. In May, she graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and a minor in communications. According to her LinkedIn profile, Duarte achieved a 3.3 cumulative GPA and was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority.
Longtime friend Maddie Noble told the Arizona Republic that Duarte went by the nickname “Chrissy,” and was a big-time country music fan.
“I’ve known her my entire life,” said Noble. “She was incredibly driven, passionate about everyone and everything.”
Duarte asked Noble to come with her to the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert in Las Vegas, but she was unable to accompany her friend to the event because of school-related obligations.
Also according to Duarte’s LinkedIn page, her first full-time job was for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, as a fan services associate.
https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/914967626861789184?
This past Summer, Duarte worked for the Los Angeles Rams during training camp, as a corporate sponsorships intern. According to her LinkedIn profile, her job was “providing Rams fans with a memorable experience and relationships.”
The deceased University of Arizona graduate was the sister of minor league baseball prospect Miley Duarte. Her 22-year-old brother is a shortstop for the Great Falls Voyagers, an Advanced Rookie affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
Mikey wrote in a Facebook message to the The Republic: “My baby sister will come home!!! She’s my life. My best friend!”
“We’re searching for my sister,” Mikey informed Noble via text message mere hours after the infamous shooting. “Pray hard please. I need my little sister. Her and Ariel are all I’ve really got.”
The Chicago White Sox issued a statement Monday to The Chicago Tribune, reporting that they’d been in contact with the Duarte family and offered any necessary resources or assistance.
Members of the White Sox front office were in touch with Mikey Duarte and his family beginning (Monday) morning, and we have made available to Mikey and his family any resources we could offer, while sending them our thoughts and prayers over the past two days.
Mikey signed onto Twitter and posted photos of his late sister. Here’s one of Christiana and Mikey when they were only little children:
https://twitter.com/DuarteMjduarte/status/915226503159226368?
A GoFundMe page called “Duarte Family Support Campaign” has raised over $46k of their $50,000 goal. Click on the link to donate to the family of the deceased.
