[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Oh no, this story is even more tragic than we realized…
As you may have seen already, two teens were shot during a screening of the horror film The Forever Purge on Monday night. The girl, 18-year-old Rylee Goodrich, was killed instantly. 19-year-old Anthony Barajas is on life support.
An arrest was made, but authorities have not released many details about the crime — nor do they seem to have many. Police said in a press release:
“Based on statements obtained, there is no known motive and it appears to be an unprovoked attack.”
On Thursday we did learn a little more about that night, however, from an unexpected source: Rylee’s father.
Related: Teen Tourist Fights Off Vicious Crocodile Dragging Her Into Ocean
David Goodrich opened up to DailyMail.com about what he knew about the shocking incident. The first? The two teens were friends, but this was also their very first date. Rylee had only known Anthony — a popular influencer with nearly a million followers on TikTok — for a short time, but was very into him. David recalled:
“She met this guy over summer, I think at a party on the third or fourth of July. My first inkling, he was this TikTok influencer, and I rolled my eyes like, ‘Are you kidding me? Really, that’s your future?’ But her mom was very much, ‘Give the guy a chance.'”
The proud poppa did — and was very much impressed:
“I met him once before he went to Hawaii a few weeks ago. And then he came back from Hawaii and she was so excited. This sweet, sweet boy came with a bag full of souvenirs for all of us. It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen an 18-year-old do.”
Awww! He continued:
“He gave my youngest daughter a necklace and me and my wife little keychains. My daughter told me, ‘He surfs and bodyboards like you.’ She sat there with this huge grin on her face, seeing that I was accepting of this boy, she was so happy. I could tell she really, really liked this boy. And he really, really liked her. She was so f***ing happy.”
Goodrich said of the rising star:
“He told me about his online personality, his TikTok thing. He goes, ‘I’ve monetized it, made a bit of money here and there but that’s not my reality. I know it is what it is.’ So he had his head screwed on straight.”
He also revealed this was the first official time the kids were going out on a date:
“They were so excited for their first date. She curled her hair all pretty. It was their first date that wasn’t a group of people. They went to Wood Ranch, which was her favorite restaurant, and then they went to the movie.”
He then revealed her final message to her parents:
“She texted my wife how boring and stupid it was, how she didn’t like the movie. That was the last we heard from her.”
David, who works as a private investigator, also revealed more details about the crime itself. He relayed what police told him — that suspect, Joseph Jimenez (above, inset), allegedly came behind them and shot them in the head, execution-style:
“She never even had a chance. He basically shot her point blank behind her head. Then he shot her new boyfriend behind his head.”
Apparently police believe the only reason Anthony is still alive is because he was second — and reacting to the first shot.
“He was able to flinch so it went through his eye, so he was able to survive.”
Goodrich says he believes the injury has left Barajas “brain dead.” Authorities have not confirmed that.
The grieving father also gave some insight into the motive, saying police told him Jimenez had robbed the young couple:
“They found my daughter’s wallet at his house, which means it was a robbery homicide. From what I understand it was a random thing.”
David told the outlet losing his daughter was “hard to talk about without crying.” We can’t even imagine. He spoke about how Rylee was “passionate and hardworking”:
“She was majoring in marketing, she was on the dean’s list, she was on the honor roll at high school. She got a full ride academic scholarship to the private university in Arizona. She lettered in volleyball, in cheerleading. She did it all, she was a huge part of Corona High School.”
He added proudly:
“I’m a PI and I had her doing some part time work for me over the summer. It struck up her interest and she was considering taking criminal justice as a minor, something to fall back on.”
David also revealed Rylee had a 10-year-old little sister she was “best friends” with.
The whole thing is just so horrific. And over what? A little money? Just awful.
[Image via Corona Police Dept./GoFundMe/Anthony Barajas/Instagram]
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