FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Rebecca “Becky” Yanez and her 14-year-old daughter, Jeanette, watched movies together, had taken trips to Mexico together and explored their Hispanic heritage together.
Yanez, 47-year-old homemaker with training as a floral designer, and her daughter were together on New Year’s Eve after heading from their home in Fort Collins to visit with family at a home in Denver. Minutes after making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight together, Jeanette watched her mother die from a bullet that entered the living room.
The bullet struck Becky Yanez and 11-year-old Angelica Martinez, who was standing next to her, Jeanette said.
Jeanette said she called 911 and was told by dispatchers how to turn over her mother and check for a pulse. Both Becky Yanez and Angelica died.
Denver police arrested Pedro Cortez after the shooting on investigation of two counts of first-degree murder. He told investigators he had shot at a streetlight, according to police documents.
“She didn’t deserve this,” said Jeanette. “She was the best.”
Friends and family gathered at the Fort Collins home of Becky Yanez’s mother, Mary “Maggie” Pena, on Wednesday.
Pena, 81, said she had been worried about her daughter heading to Denver for New Year’s Eve.
“She was there to help everybody,” Pena said of her daughter. “She had a heart to help anybody.”
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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan,
