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LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 13: A defiant fist is raised at a vigil for the worst mass shooing in United States history on June 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, United States. A gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida early yesterday morning before suspect Omar Mateen also died on-scene. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)![Wilson_Orlando_FB]()
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon: Daniel Gmys-Casiano said that Wilson-Leon was his protector, confidant and personal hero. "We grew up in a really small town in Puerto Rico … and he was going to same church that I was, and he was always the odd man out. He was bullied constantly. He was different. He would dress in black, wear long sideburns,'' Gmys-Casiano said.![Rios_Orlando_FB]()
Enrique Rios: The 25-year old Brooklyn, New York resident was in Orlando for a friend’s birthday party when he lost his life in the gun fire. He was a social worker who was known for his energy and optimism.![Camuy_Orlando_NAHJ]()
Jonathan Camuy: At 25-years-old, Camuy was just beginning his career in the media as an assistant producer on the Spanish- language television show “La Voz Kids.” Camuy moved to Orlando from Puerto Rico to work for Telemundo and was known as an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.![Ortiz_Orlando_FB]()
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera: Ortiz-Rivera came to Florida from Puerto Rico in the hopes of starting a new career and having a better life than the one he left on the island. Ortiz-Rivera earned a communications degree from the Universidad de Bayamón and was working in merchandise management at a Ross clothing store.![Perez_Orlando_FB]()
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez: Mendez Perez hit the gym daily, was always trying out new fragrances and preferred to wear Jimmy Choo shoes. But besides his expensive tastes, friends and colleagues say it was his humor and warmth that really made him stand out. "He laughed with the people and would make jokes," Claudia Agudelo, who worked with him at the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets store, told local media. "He was always happy."![Almodovar_Orlando_FB]()
Stanley Almodovar III: Almodovar moved to Florida from Puerto Rico when he was a child alongside his mother Rosalia Ramos, who was waiting with a bowl of tomato-and-cheese dip for her 23-year-old son to return Saturday night from the club. "I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow," Ramos said. "I don't know nothing." Ramos told the Orlando Sentinel her son, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician, posted a Snapchat video of himself singing and laughing on his way to Pulse nightclub.![Flores_Orlando_FB]()
Mercedes Flores: The 26-year-old was at Pulse with her best friend, Amanda Alvear. Both women were Snapchatting from Pulse. Flores' family said that she was a hard-worker and a happy person who was studying at Valencia College.![Vielma_Orlando_FB]()
Luis Vielma: A huge fan of Harry Potter, Vielma loved his job at Universal Studios where he helped visitors on and off the rides at the Wizarding Wolrd of Harry Potter. "Every time I asked him, he said he had the best job," Vielma’s high school friend Eddi Anderson told. "He loved Harry Potter."![Sotomayor_Orlando_FB]()
Edward Sotomayor Jr.: The charismatic national brand manager for the gay travel company Al and Chuck Travel, Sotomayor had recently helped organize the first gay cruise to Cuba. "He had traveled to so many places in the world," his boss Al Ferguson said. "He loved travel." Sotomayor will also be remembered as a one of the heroes in the Pulse shooting after he texted his boyfriend, Nicholas Panagos, soon after the shooting began to tell him to tell him to stay outside. He saved his boyfriend’s life but despite assuring Panagos that he was safe, he did not make it out of the club alive.![Gonzalez_Orlando_FB]()
Peter Gonzalez-Cruz: Known to his friends and family as “Ommy,” Gonzalez-Cruz was known as the life of the party wherever he went. Gonzalez-Cruz attended the nightclub on Saturday alongside his best friend Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, who not among those listed as killed during the massacre. After news of the mass shooting emerged, his aunt Sonia Cruz said she held out hope for hours that her nephew would turn up in a hospital bed. But late Sunday afternoon, she was told he was among those killed at the club.![Justice_Orlando_FB]()
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice: Justice woke his mother up at 2:06 a.m. Sunday morning with a text saying “Mommy I Love You.” That was quickly followed by “In club they shooting.” It was the last words she ever heard from her 30-year-old son.![Murray_Orlando_FB]()
Akyra Murray: A 1,000-point scorer on the West Catholic Preparatory High School baseketball team in Philadelphia, Murray had recently signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Mercyhurst University in Erie. To celebrate her graduation, and her family traveled to Orlando. She went to Pulse with some cousins. Shortly after 2 a.m., Murray called her parents. "She was saying she was shot, and she was screaming, saying she was losing a lot of blood," her mom, Natalie Murray, said.![Candelario_Orlando_FB]()
Angel Candelario-Padro moved to Orlando from Chicago in January to be closer to family. The 28-year-old nurse from Guanica, Puerto Rico, soon found a new job and a new love. "He was a humble boy, a good student. He liked to work and wasn't too much into partying," his aunt Leticia Padro told Univision. But he made an exception Saturday night, when he and his boyfriend went to Pulse with friends.![Fernandez_Orlando_Instagram]()
Leroy Valentin Fernandez recently had found a job as a leasing agent for an Orlando apartment complex, said his friend, Jennifer Rodriguez. "He had finally found something he liked. He was taking care of his mom," she said. He was her hair stylist and became one of her best friends, she said. "He was like a brother," she said. "He was just really very spirited and always happy, you know?" Fernandez, 25, recently had been dating an older man, a dancer known by the stage name Eman Valentino. That dancer was Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35, who also died and left behind a young son who had graduated from pre-kindergarten earlier this month.![Tomlinson_Orlando_Facebook]()
Singing was Shane Tomlinson's passion. He had just performed as the lead vocalist with "The Frequency Band" on Saturday night at Blue Martini club before going to Pulse, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "He was destined for a grand stage and he was doing exactly what he wanted to do," said Dr. Lathan Turner, associate director of student transitions at East Carolina University, where Tomlinson graduated in 2003 with a degree in communication. Tomlinson, 33, was a vibrant and charismatic lead vocalist for the band, performing at night clubs and weddings in the Orlando area. "I've never met anyone like him," said Carey Sobel, an Orlando resident who hired Tomlinson's band to play for his upcoming wedding. "He was really special."![Crosby_Orlando_Facebook]()
Tevin Eugene Crosby's inspirational posts on Facebook — "2016 will be the best year ever" — represented his drive for success. Chavis Crosby, told the Orlando Sentinel that his brother was ambitious and hard-working. "Whatever goal he had in mind, he worked hard. Whether alone or on a team, he worked on that goal." Tevin Crosby, 25, was director of operations for a Michigan marketing firm. He recently visited his family in Statesville, North Carolina, to watch several nieces and nephews graduate. Then he traveled to Orlando after passing along some brotherly advice about business and setting goals. He loved to travel for work and fun, Chavis Crosby said. "He was definitely a good person and a good brother to me," he said.![Laureanodisla_Orlando]()
Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25, started dancing at the age of 10 and was comfortable with any number of styles, from salsa to ballroom, his cousin Ana Figueroa said. Figueroa told the Orlando Sentinel that he had texted her Saturday inviting her out for a night of dancing at Pulse nightclub. She responded that she was too tired. He was out with two roommates, both of whom were injured in the shooting, she said. The newspaper did not identify the roommates. Born in Puerto Rico, Laureano Disla moved to Orlando about three years ago to become a dancer and choreographer, Figueroa told the newspaper.![Menendez_Orlando_Facebook]()
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez grew up in Manati, Puerto Rico, and moved to Orlando a few years ago, his cousin Irma Silva-Lauer told the Orlando Sentinel. He was an only child and "the light and the life of all the family gatherings," Silva-Lauer said.![Morris_Orlando_Facebook]()
Kimberly Morris: The 37-year-old Morris moved to the Orlando just months before Sunday’s early morning shooting at Pulse, where she worked as a bouncer. Friends say that the former Post University student was excited about her job at the club and thrilled to become more involved with the city’s LGBT community. Narvell Benning met Morris when they were in college at Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut, where Benning said they both played basketball. "I can't think of a time when I did not see a smile on her face," Benning told the Sentinel. "I'm so thankful of the good memories I have of her. This is just unreal."![Ocasio_Orlando_Facebook]()
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo wanted to be a star. The 20-year-old dancer was working at Starbucks inside a Kissimmee Target store while studying theater, and would have auditioned on Tuesday for a play, said his sister, Belinette Ocasio-Capo. "He was one of the most amazing dancers," she said. "He would always call me and say, 'I'm going to be the next Hollywood star.' He really did want to make it and be known. "Now his name ended up being all around the world, like he wanted — just not this way." Omar, as he was known to family and friends, seemed brash to 70-year-old Claudia Mason, who worked with him at Starbucks. But after getting to know her much younger co-worker, "I realized he had a very outgoing personality," said Mason. "His sense of humor was definitely his defining personality trait." Ocasio-Capo was hired as a cashier before moving over to the Starbucks, and became a great barista, Mason said.![Honorato_Orlando_Facebook]()
Miguel Honorato: A father of three, among them a 1- and 2-year-old, Honorato managed four restaurants in central Florida along with a catering business on the side and was always the one to drop everything to help out his family, which included seven siblings. "He was my mentor and my supporter. He helped very much in my parent's house and work," Jose Honorato said. Even though Miguel was younger he was the one who gave sage advice about the family business, his brother said. Jose Honorato changed his Facebook photo Monday to one of the two brothers smiling over a charcoal grill, one of many happy memories cooking together.![Brenda_Lee_Marquez_McCool__49_years_old__Facebook]()
Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49: McCool and her 21-year-old son, Isaiah Henderson, were regulars at Pulse. She was the mother of 11 kids and beat cancer twice. According to press accounts, she died trying to protect Henderson.![Cory_James_Connell__21_years_old__2_]()
Cory James Connell, 21.![Darryl_Roman_Burt_II__29_years_old]()
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29.![Christopher_Joseph_Sanfeliz_24_years_old__facebook_]()
Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24![Christopher_Drew_Leinonen__32_years_old__A__facebook]()
Christopher Drew Leinonen, 32![Frank_Hernandez_Escalante__27_years_old__Facebook]()
Frank Hernandez Escalante, 27![Franky_Jimmy_Dejesus_Velazquez__50_years_old]()
Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50![Jean_Carlos_Nives_Rodriguez__27_years_old__Facebook_]()
Jean Carlos Nives Rodriguez, 27![Jason_Benjamin_Josaphat__19_years_old__Facebook]()
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19![Javier_Jorge_Reyes__40_years_old__Facebook]()
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40![Juan_P__Rivera_Velazquez__37_years_old_facebook__E_]()
Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37![Luis_Daniel_Conde__39_years_old_Facebook__E_]()
Luis Daniel Conde, 39![Martin_Benitez_Torres__33_years_old_Facebook]()
Martin Benitez Torres, 33![Rodolfo_Ayala_Ayala__33_years_old__Facebook]()
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33![Oscar_A_Aracena_Montero__26_years_old__D___Facebook]()
Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26![Amanda_Alvear_Latino]()
Amanda Alvear: The 25-year-old from Polk County, Florida had just reshaped her body and her life after she 180 pounds thanks to a mix of gastric bypass surgery and daily workouts. Alvear’s brothers home was flooded on Sunday with worried family and friends after his sister failed to call and check in the night before. (Photo: via Facebook)Orlando nightclub shooting: A look at the victims
They were travel agents, social workers, dancers and students. They were toy store managers, theme park employees, musicians and aspiring journalists. Most importantly, however, they were friends, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.
Move Forward
- Orlando nightclub shooting: A look at the victims
