A San Diego father said his “worst nightmare” came true when his daughter, who had recently moved to Chicago, had her life cut short by a stray bullet.
Aaren O'Connor went to high school at Our Lady of Peace in North Park and graduated from the University of San Diego before moving to Chicago for work and to be with her boyfriend.
On Friday, she was sitting in her car outside her apartment when she was hit in the back of the head by a stray bullet. She was on the phone with her little sister when the shooting happened, her father David told NBC 7 Wednesday.
He said was concerned about Aaren moving there more than a year ago.
“It was my worst nightmare. I was afraid something like this would happen, and it did,” he said.
When they learned of the shooting, the O’Connor family rushed up to Illinois to see her in the hospital. David said he knew immediately that he would never talk to her again; just machines were keeping her alive.
“My heart sank,” he said. “I just broke down at that point. I pounded the desk. I couldn’t believe it.”
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With her untimely death, the father said the world has lost someone special, one of its brightest. He described his 25-year-old daughter as kind, selfless and compassionate with an infectious personality.
Aaren studied international relations and Spanish language at USD. She then traveled to Japan, where she met her boyfriend Carlos. She moved to Chicago to be with him and work in marketing at a toy company.
Because of her intelligence and drive, Aaren's dad called his first born his golden child.
“I think we’ve lost someone who is the best of the best, a real treasure,” David said, “I want people to know that this was more than just a senseless killing.”
No arrests have been made at this time in connection with the crime.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for funeral arrangements, and additional money will be used for a scholarship program in Aaren’s memory to help put an end to youth violence.
Aaren’s funeral is scheduled for Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. at Santa Sophia Church in Spring Valley.
