Friends, family gather to honor victim of fatal Strip stabbing
Friends of Maris DiGiovanni stood holding hands in a large circle around her family by the lake at Cornerstone Park in Henderson.
They lit lanterns and released them into the night sky to close out a candlelight vigil Saturday night.
About 50 people gathered around 5 p.m. to honor DiGiovanni, 30, who was killed Thursday on the Strip during a stabbing spree that killed one other person and injured six more.
DiGiovanni was one of four women working as a posing showgirl. They were approached by a man police say was Yoni Barrios, 32. Barrios allegedly asked to take a photo with them while holding a knife and when one of the girls felt uncomfortable and backed away, Barrios attacked, according to a police arrest report.
At the vigil, a picnic table near the lake was covered in flowers, next to a collage of photos of DiGiovanni surrounded by candles.
Music played as people walked up to the memorial and wrote memories in a book that would be given to the family. People held each other in long, tearful embraces.
DiGiovanni’s husband, Cole Jordan, knelt in front of the collage crying as his family surrounded him and placed their hands on his shoulders.
As the sun set, DiGiovanni’s friends, including some fellow showgirls, spoke about their friend. They spoke of her loving spirit and the way she lived life as herself without worrying what other people thought.
“Maris left this world on my watch,” Cheryl Lowthorp, owner of Best Showgirls in Vegas, said. “She left my home working in a construct that I spent 12 years creating that was about empowerment, freedom.”
DiGiovanni’s father Vern DiGiovanni spoke to the crowd alongside his daughter’s husband.
“She brought a smile to your face. Maris would not want us to sit around here and cry. We’re going to cry. If you loved her, you’re going to cry,” Vern DiGiovanni said. “But I think she would really appreciate if you took a little bit of time to look through your pictures and find those that made you smile.”
He said his wife met someone named Maris while traveling and they decided to use the name for their daughter.
Lowthorp created an online fundraiser to help with the recovery of another injured showgirl and for Maris DiGiovanni’s funeral expenses. A Go Fund Me page created by the family had raised more than $35,000 as of late Saturday.
“Somebody who was seeking to be more. Somebody that recognized the need in the world to be loved and accepted,” Lowthorp said of Maris DiGiovanni. “Somebody that wanted to meet that need and somebody that recognized how important that was.”
The vigil ended with a cry of “We love you, Maris!” followed by cheers from those gathered in the circle.
Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.
