Thirteen-year-old Keyla Salazar loved animals, including her dogs “Lucky” and “Cinnamon,” had a “charismatic personality” that “conquered everyone’s heart,” and had many talents, including “infinite creativity,” her family said Tuesday after her funeral.
Nearly 1,000 people celebrated the life and mourned the loss of Keyla, one of three victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, at a service at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Jose.
Well-wishers wrote messages to Keyla on her white casket. And loved ones wore T-shirts with photos of Keyla reading, “Our Hero.” Sobs could be heard from a large crowd that surrounded the family as they loaded Keyla’s casket into a tan hearse.
Keyla was one week shy of her 14th birthday when she was shot and killed while fleeing the shooting with her family. Born in Marin County to father Juan Salazar and mother Lorena Pimentel de Salazar, Keyla lived in San Jose, where she attended ACE Empower Academy, a charter school.
“Her tender smile and charismatic personality conquered everyone’s heart,” her family said in a statement read by Keyla’s aunt, Silvia Vasquez Navarro. “Her intelligence, her strength, her tenacity motivated everyone to move forward. She was a happy and resilient girl.”
Keyla loved science and technology, “creating ingenious videos, making everyone laugh,” her family said. “Her greatest hope was to pursue a career in animation, designing and creating characters and stories.”
Despite being bullied, Keyla — whom her family called “Keylita” in the statement — never lost her love of life and strived to achieve her academic goals.
“Keyla is a hero for the entire community and an example to follow because she demonstrated that with effort, dedication and drive, she graduated and broke all barriers,” the family said.
Keyla loved her pets, including her guinea pig “Albert,” rabbit “Miss Jackson” and cat “Rosie,” and aspired to care for animals.
Oscar Cantú, bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, met with the family before the service. He said they described Keyla as being their spark and joy.
“She could sense when they were having a hard day or down, and would simply give them a big hug,” Cantú said. “They’re certainly going to miss that. We’re going to miss that. I encouraged them to continue to do that for each other. I think that’s the legacy that Keyla leaves them and leaves us.”
