‘She was as kind as they come’ — Heartbroken loved ones speak on the 10 victims who died in Boulder mass shooting
They ranged in age from 20 to 65, everyone from a grocery store worker to grandmother, but they now have too much in common: They were gunned down in cold blood, deserved better and will be missed.
Colorado authorities on Tuesday released the names of the 10 people shot dead at the King Soopers supermarket on Monday, and their loved ones are sharing the details of what made them special and not just another victim of a senseless shooting.
These are their names and their stories:
Denny Stong, 20
Stong, a Boulder native, started working at King Soopers in 2018, according to his Facebook profile. On March 22, 2020, he changed his profile photo to include a frame that reads, “I can’t stay home, I am a grocery store worker.”
Exactly one year later, he was fatally shot at work. Stong was the youngest person killed in the supermarket.
This month, Stong started a fund-raiser for the National Foundation for Gun Rights.
“I’ve chosen this nonprofit because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope you’ll consider contributing as a way to celebrate with me,” Stong wrote while attempting to raise $200 for the conservative gun rights group. “Every little bit will help me reach my goal.”
The National Foundation for Gun Rights did not return a request for comment.
Stong was training to be a pilot, according to friends and was “a model plane aficionado and into dirt bikes and Civil War reenactments,” according to the Denver Post.
“My heart breaks. My son’s best friend, Denny Stong was killed at the Boulder King Soopers yesterday,” Laura Cole Spider wrote on Facebook. “He ... was training to become a pilot. Ben is crushed.”
Stong was a 2019 graduate of Fairview High School, according to the school district.
Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
Bartkowiak, also known by her nickname Lonna, ran the artisan clothing and wearable art store UMBA, and is remembered by loved ones for her immeasurable warmth.
“My reaction when I heard the news, was that she probably died trying to save someone else,” friend Brice Bushaw told the Daily News Tuesday via Facebook. “She was as kind as they come.”
He added that she “was always an angel and still is.”
“She was the kindest and sweetest lady you ever did know. All she wanted to do was help and share beauty with others,” read a Facebook post by friend Edica Pacha.
Bartkowiak’s roommate, BJ Cochran, wrote in a Facebook post that he was “completely devastated,” remembering her as “an angel with a heart of gold.”
He urged people to “remind everyone that you love them. Our time is not guaranteed here.”
Jody Waters, 65
Waters has been described as a mother and grandmother who was loved by friends and colleagues at Embrazio, a leather accessories business where she worked.
“It is with a heavy heart that Stephanie and I share the news that our friend and colleague, Jody Waters, was shot and killed at the King Sooper’s mass shooting yesterday in Boulder,” the company said in an Instagram post Tuesday. “Jody was a beautiful soul with a warm and loving heart, a mother and grandmother, and she will be dearly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her.”
Another friend described her as a “second mother” to him.
“We love you Jody Waters,” Kyle Harriman wrote in a Facebook tribute. “Such a tragic event in Boulder yesterday that claimed many lives. One being the sweetest person I know. Thank you for being you!”
Neven Stanisic, 23
Stanisic was a graduate of Alameda International Jr./Sr. High in Lakewood.
Members of his church, Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church in Lakewood, told the Denver Post that Stanisic, who fled Bosnia as a young child with his family, was “a very good, shy, hardworking boy.”
A repairman, family friends said he had likely been on his way home after a fix-it job inside the store when he was shot.
“So he ended up being in the parking lot, in his car, when the bullet struck him,” Rev. Radovan Petrovic of Saint John the Baptist told the Denver Post.
A sparsely updated Facebook profile of Stanisic’s showed him in a graduation gown smiling with other young men in an undated photo. His personal photos included illustrations of anime and video game characters.
He is survived by his parents and younger sister.
Rikki Olds, 25
Olds, of Lafayette, was a front-end manager at King Soopers, The Denver Post reports.
Boyfriend Jordan Arthur updated his Facebook profile picture to a photo of the couple, writing: Rikki baby, you were taken too soon. I miss you dearly. "
“Thank you everyone for all your prayers but the Lord got a beautiful young angel yesterday at the hands of a deranged monster,” her aunt, Lori Olds, posted on Facebook early Tuesday.
Later Tuesday, she posted a 2013 school photo of her niece.
“Why you why not me? You haven’t even lived yet….” Lori Olds wrote.
“We’re just devastated,” Robert Olds, told the New York Times, describing his niece, the eldest of three siblings, as a lively person and dedicated worker who “brought life to the family.”
The young woman was raised by her grandmother, leading Olds to say: “My mom was her mom. My mom raised her.”
Suzanne Fountain, 59
Fountain was an “incredible” actress who touched many hearts in the Colorado’s theater community over the years, according to friends and former colleagues.
New York-based director and playwright Randal Myler, who worked with Fountain at the Denver Center Theatre Company about three decades ago, still has great memories of her despite all those years.
“You do not forget people like her,” Myler told The News, noting that she could play smaller or major roles and still impress everyone around her.
“She was one of the best in Colorado when I was there,” he said. “I found her very, very talented and pragmatic.”
Lighting designer Brian Miller, who met her during a 2002 production in Boulder, told The News that Fountain was a “talented actress” and a “lovely person.” Director Sonny Wasinger also praised Fountain’s acting, saying she was nominated for an actress award for her work in a play he wrote years ago.
“She was a very talented, hard working, beautiful, kind, and genuine woman,” Wasinger wrote in a Facebook post. “She will be missed by many. I am still in shock at this news, and really don’t know what to say.”
Actor and director Kevin Hart described her as a “colossal” actress. “Strong, deep, smart, and kind. RIP, Suz. Will love you forever,” he wrote on Facebook.
Fountain also starred in five different productions by the Denver Center between 1990 and 1992, a spokeswoman for the organization confirmed to The News Tuesday. More recently, Fountain worked as a licensed health care agent, according to local news station KDVR.
Teri Leiker, 51
Leiker was a longtime employee at the King Soopers grocery store who “enjoyed everything about being there,” her friend, Lexi Knutson, told Reuters.
“Her boyfriend and her had been good friends and began dating in the fall of 2019,” Knutson told the news outlet. “He was working yesterday too. He is alive.”
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Knutson remembered Leiker as “the most innocent, caring, and loving individual that the world held.”
She told Reuters she was introduced to Leiker as part of a program that connected people with “intellectual and developmental disabilities” with students at the University of Colorado.
Knutson said Leiker “loved going to work.” She had been employed by the supermarket for about three decades.
Kevin Mahoney, 61
Mahoney’s daughter, Erika, described him as her “hero,” writing in a tweet Thursday that she was “heartbroken” to announce his death.
“My dad represents all things Love,” she wrote, alongside a photo showing them together on her wedding day.
“I’m so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer.”
Erika, who called Boulder her hometown, also wrote she is now pregnant, and said her father would want her to “be strong for his granddaughter.”
“I love you forever Dad,” she posted with another photo from her wedding. “You are always with me.”
I am heartbroken to announce that my Dad, my hero, Kevin Mahoney, was killed in the King Soopers shooting in my hometown of Boulder, CO. My dad represents all things Love. I'm so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer. pic.twitter.com/SLS2bdm5Hc
— Erika Mahoney (@MahoneyEb) March 23, 2021
Lynn Murray, 62
A mother of two, Murray was a retired photo director for Manhattan-based publications like Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, who chose to use her free time helping others via Instacart work, her husband John Mackenzie told The Times.
Murray was “an amazing woman, probably the kindest person I’ve ever known,” Mackenzie said, noting the family’s “lives are ruined” as they now face “a sorrow that is unimaginable.”
Murray and Mackenzie left New York in 2002 and landed temporarily in Florida before settling in Colorado. There, they raised their kids, 24-year-old Olivia and 22-year-old Pierce.
Olivia told the outlet her mom was “the most undeserving person to have to be shot down.”
Mackenzie hopes his wife will “be remembered as just this amazing, amazing comet spending 62 years flying across the sky.”
Officer Eric Talley, 51
Talley, 51, was a married father of seven who left his career in information technology to join the Boulder Police Department in 2010.
He was the first law enforcement officer on the scene of the deadly rampage and rushed in to help others before he was shot and killed inside, police said.
“My heart is broken,” his younger sister Kirsten Talley said in a Twitter post. “I cannot explain how beautiful he was and what a devastating loss this is to so many. Fly high my sweet brother. You always wanted to be a pilot (damn color blindness). Soar,” she said.
Edwin Hurwitz, 60, a criminal defense lawyer who lives just five blocks from the King Soopers store, hailed Talley as model officer who “changed” his perception of policing when they were paired up for a ride-along in March 2011.
Hurwitz was a law school student at the time who’d spent three decades as a musician and had “trepidation” about spending a night in a police vehicle. Talley was 41 and in his first year on the force.
The pair “bonded” over their mid-life career changes, and Talley quickly proved himself to be an “all-around great guy” who showed respect and “humanity” to all the people they encountered that night, Hurwitz told the Daily News.
He recalled a particular instance where Talley engaged with a homeless man sleeping in a park against city rules, he said.
“Officer Talley was just really patient with him, really saw him as a human being,” Hurwitz told The News. “And when we were driving around and saw other homeless people, he’d identify them to me and talk about who they were and where they’re from.”
