BOULDER, Colo. 鈥� Some were gunned down while picking up groceries, others while putting in a day's work at a Colorado supermarket. Another was a police officer who raced in to try to rescue them from an attack that left 10 dead.
Portraits of the lives lost were coming into view as the suspect in Monday's killings waits behind bars for a court appearance Thursday.
Ranging in age from 20 to 65, those who lost their lives at the King Soopers store in Boulder include a clothing shop owner, a coffee-machine repair person, a boutique worker, a man looking forward to a new grandchild, a magazine photographer, an actress who also became a Medicare agent and others going about their days at a busy shopping plaza.
They are Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; police Officer Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jodi Waters, 65.
Leiker, Olds and Stong worked at the supermarket.
DENNY STONG
He was off the clock when he stopped in to shop at the grocery store and ended up in the line of fire, said co-worker Emily Giffen, who was on a smoke break when shots initially erupted outside the store.
Stong, whose mother also works at the store, was studying to become a pilot, Giffen said. In the meantime, he was a 鈥済oofball鈥� who provided comic relief when his co-workers needed it.
鈥淚f you needed to laugh, he would always tell me these horrible dad jokes," Giffen said. 鈥淗e was a really well-rounded person and really a lot, a lot that he was still going to do.鈥�
JODI WATERS
Before the coronavirus pandemic, she worked at a downtown Boulder boutique called Island Farm.
The store staff was like a family, and Waters helped it feel like home, they said.
鈥淪he immediately took me under her wing, treating me like her own daughter,鈥� said Madeline Soultz, 23, a former sales associate whose family lives far away.
Store manager Lily Rood, 26, said Waters, who had two daughters and a son, was 鈥渁 mother to all the girls here.鈥�
Island Farm opened its doors Tuesday to customers, friends and loved ones who came to reminisce about Waters 鈥� her penchant for collecting heart-shaped leaves on hikes, her animal-print decor at home, her get-togethers with co-workers over margaritas and the advice she gave.
鈥淵ou could go to her with any problem,鈥� Soultz said. Waters wasn't shy about letting people know if they made mistakes, but "she knew your potential, even if you didn鈥檛 know it.鈥�
Boutique owner Jen Haney added, 鈥淭he world got dimmer without her."
NEVEN STANISIC
He had finished a job 鈥� fixing a coffee machine at the Starbucks in King Soopers 鈥� and was in his car, getting ready to go to another assignment, when the gunman opened fire in the parking lot, said Father Radovan Petrovic, the parish priest at the Stanisic family's church.
Born in the Denver area to a Serbian refugee couple from Bosnia, Stanisic lived in suburban Lakewood. After graduating in 2016 from Alameda International Jr./Sr. High School, he went to work with his father at a company that maintains commercial coffee and juice machines, said Petrovic, of St. John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church.
Stanisic was an 鈥渁ll-around good person, quiet boy, very well mannered 鈥� respectful of others and older people 鈥� and hardworking person,鈥� the priest said.
Stanisic's parents came to the U.S. in 1998 after losing everything they had in their war-torn homeland, where conflict followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Over 100,000 people were killed, and more than 2 million were driven from their homes.
鈥淭hey survived the war and came here to start to have a new life, a better life. And then to have this happen to them 鈥� it鈥檚 mind-blowing," Petrovic said.
TRALONA BARTKOWIAK
Just this September, she helped her friend Sarah Lewis endure her grief after losing a loved one to a shooting in September, Lewis said.
鈥淚 would not have gotten through it without her. She is the one who I cried to every day about it, and she just listened, and when so many other people couldn鈥檛 listen to me cry anymore,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淪he was the kindest, sweetest, most generous, just warm-hearted friend.鈥�
When the two celebrated Lewis' birthday last week, Bartkowiak was delighted to see her friend doing better.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have done it without her,鈥� Lewis said, choking back sobs, "and so I am like, 鈥橶hat do we do now?'鈥�
She had been looking ahead to planning a bachelor and bachelorette party for her friend, who got engaged on Christmas Day, she said.
A memorial filled with candles and flowers kept growing outside Umba, the clothing and accessories shop that Bartkowiak 鈥� who went by Lonna 鈥� ran with her sister on Boulder鈥檚 popular Pearl Street Mall.
鈥淵ou would go in her store and put something on, and she would make you feel like such a goddess, no matter what it was,鈥� said Stefanie Clarke. She recalled chatting with Bartkowiak a couple of weeks ago about how eager they were to go to concerts and festivals after a year of coronavirus cancellations.
鈥淚 know she was just as excited as any of us to put on her dancing pants and get back to it,鈥� Clarke said, fighting tears.
Lewis, who sells jewelry online, said Bartkowiak let many local artists sell their pieces in her shop.
Tricia Hunter, a manager at the Savory Spice store next door, said Bartkowiak was dedicated to her business and worked hard, but 鈥淚 rarely saw her in a bad mood.鈥�
鈥淪he was a very free spirit, kind to everyone, always smiling, always happy," said Hunter, who went to Umba to borrow shipping boxes and saw Bartkowiak on Sunday. Her death the next day was a shock.
鈥淚t is pretty heartbreaking that somebody is just running to the store to get something, and a gunman is there shooting people, and you get killed," she said.
TERI LEIKER
A longtime King Soopers employee, she was a 鈥渟pitfire鈥� who felt free to yell 鈥渉ello" across the store when colleagues came in to work, Giffen said.
鈥淪he wore her emotions on her sleeve, and whatever she felt was what she felt, and you could never shame her for it,鈥� Giffen said. She said Leiker was dating a co-worker and that the two complemented each other.
Leiker loved to watch the University of Colorado marching band perform in a kickoff celebration called the Pearl Street Stampede on Friday nights before home football games on the Boulder campus, band director Matt Dockendorf told The Denver Post.
鈥淪he was there even before we started gathering, which is half an hour before the stampede started,鈥� Dockendorf said. 鈥淪he was just a staple. She was kind of a personal cheerleader for the band.鈥�
SUZANNE FOUNTAIN
She was an actress and mother who later won loyal clients as a Medicare agent, doing extensive research to find the right supplemental coverage for older adults signing up for the federal health insurance program, said her life partner, Phi Bernier.
鈥淪he never skimped, she never did something because it was easier,鈥� he said.
Fountain trained at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York, and the two first met while they were playing lead roles in 鈥淭he Glass Menagerie鈥� about 30 years ago, Bernier said. They dated for a time and then reconnected after Fountain came to see him in a play in 2013.
Up until the pandemic, Fountain was also the manager of eTown, a
鈥淪uzanne was a bright light to all she met, and we were proud to have her represent eTown in our community as she welcomed people into our space hundreds and hundreds of times,鈥� the organization said in a Facebook post.
Fountain won praise for her acting from both reviewers and those who worked with her.
鈥淪he was absolutely lovely, a natural, someone you simply didn鈥檛 forget,鈥� Brian Miller, who worked with her on a show, told The Denver Post.
A Boulder Daily Camera review said her 2002 performance as a nurse in 鈥淲it,鈥� a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a woman dealing with cancer, brought 鈥渁 simple but crucial compassion to the play.鈥�
KEVIN MAHONEY
He 鈥渞epresents all things Love,鈥� his daughter Erika Mahoney said in a poignant tweet that featured a wedding photo and drew wide attention on social media.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer,鈥� added Mahoney, who is the news director at a California public radio station.
She told NPR in an interview that aired Wednesday that the pandemic had almost forced her to reschedule the wedding, which she and her husband decided to hold in a small backyard ceremony with their families.
Erika Mahoney said her father had tried to hold back his tears 鈥渋n big life moments for me, like when he took me to the airport for college, but really, it鈥檚 just his softness shining through,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 admire my dad so much, and that鈥檚 why I picked that photo, because I鈥檓 looking up at him.鈥�
She also tweeted that she's pregnant and knows her father 鈥渨ants me to be strong for his granddaughter.鈥�
Erika Mahoney said her father was shopping at Kings Sooper when he was killed. As news of his death became public, she said, friends texted her that he was like a father to them as well.
鈥淥ne death trickles to so many people and to an entire community and beyond,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n this case, 10 lives were lost, and I think about my daughter and that my dad will never be able to hold her, but I know on some level, he will be there and he was so excited 鈥� and I鈥檓 going to tell her that he loves her so much.鈥�
ERIC TALLEY
He joined the police force in Boulder in 2010 with a background that included a master鈥檚 degree in computer communications, his father said.
鈥淎t age 40, he decided he wanted to serve his community,鈥� Homer 鈥淪hay" Talley, 74, told The Associated Press from his ranch in central Texas. 鈥淗e left his desk job. He just wanted to serve, and that鈥檚 what he did. He just enjoyed the police family.鈥�
Eric Talley was the first to arrive after a call about shots being fired and someone carrying a rifle, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said.
Talley was 鈥渂y all accounts, one of the outstanding officers" in the department, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.
Talley鈥檚 father said his son 鈥� who had seven children, ages 7 to 20 鈥� was a devoted father who 鈥渒new the Lord.鈥�
鈥淲hen everyone else in the parking lot was running away, he ran toward it,鈥� Shay Talley said.
鈥淲e know where he is,鈥� he added. 鈥淗e loved his family more the anything. He wasn鈥檛 afraid of dying. He was afraid of putting them through it.鈥�
Talley grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was 鈥渢he most liked person in our class,鈥� said elementary school classmate Kerry O鈥橞ryant, who started a fundraiser for Talley鈥檚 children.
"He wasn鈥檛 necessarily Mr. Jock or Mr. Popularity or whatever, but everybody liked Eric. There was nobody who didn鈥檛,鈥� O'Bryant told the Albuquerque Journal.
鈥淚f there was anyone who was potentially going to be able to go in and defuse a bad situation, it was him 鈥� because he was such a lovable person,鈥� O鈥橞ryant said.
LYNN MURRAY
She was shopping at King Soopers, where a friend鈥檚 daughter had seen her. Word made it to her husband, John Mackenzie, who drove to the store and started texting his wife.
After getting no answer in about five minutes, 鈥淚 just fell over in my chair,鈥� he said, choking up.
Murray had a long career taking photos for magazines including Cosmopolitan and Vogue, Mackenzie said.
鈥淪he charmed the pants off me鈥� when they met at a photography studio in New York City years ago, he said. Computer backgammon games soon evolved into a relationship and eventually, two children.
鈥淪he鈥檚 the kindest person I ever knew, hands down. She had an aura about her that was the coolest freakin鈥� thing you鈥檇 ever want to know. She was just a cool chick,鈥� Mackenzie said.
鈥淪he had it all together 鈥� she really did,鈥� he said, and offered a message:
鈥淒on鈥檛 live in fear. My wife, none of the victims, would ever want you to live in fear. They鈥檇 want you to be bolder and live bolder. That鈥檚 what this place is."
RIKKI OLDS
She had a big laugh and an effervescent personality, the kind of person who cheered everyone up and didn鈥檛 sweat what anyone thought of her tattoos or ever-changing hair
鈥淩ikki lived life on her own terms,鈥� uncle Robert Olds said, calling her a 鈥渟trong, independent young woman鈥� who encouraged the idea of 鈥渂eing your own person.鈥�
As a preschooler, she鈥檇 tag along with him and his sons to baseball tournaments and ask to go to McDonald鈥檚 afterward. As she grew up, she played softball and developed a love for camping, hiking and other outdoor activities.
鈥淪he was just a very kind and loving, bubbly person who lit up the room when she walked in,鈥� said her grandmother, Jeanette Olds.
Rikki Olds originally wanted to be a nurse, but her plans changed, her family said. A front-end manager at King Soopers, Olds aspired to work her way up to store manager.
No matter what she did, she wanted to help people and be nurturing, her uncle said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a hole in our family that won鈥檛 be filled,鈥� Robert Olds said.
Co-workers said Olds was the go-to person when someone needed to vent, laugh or share a little gossip.
鈥淪he was just the funkiest, silliest, most wonderful person," said Giffen, who remembered talking with Olds about a customer complaint Monday.
鈥淚 said, like, 鈥楬ang in there, girl,鈥�" Giffen recalled. 鈥溾�業t鈥檚 groceries. Nobody dies over groceries.'"
___
Peltz reported from New York and Hollingsworth from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press writers Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan; Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Thalia Beaty in New York contributed. Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a
Patty Nieberg, Heather Hollingsworth And Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press
