The mother of a 16-year-old shot and killed in National City is asking for help finding her daughter’s killer. As unbelievable as it may seem, this is the second daughter she has lost to gun violence in a little over two years.
“What are the odds?” said Diana Del Valle. “It’s unbelievable that a mother or any parent could ever experience what I’m experiencing. I’m broken inside. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.”
Her daughter, 16-year-old Gillian Aguilar, a student at Bonita Vista High School, was killed around 11:30 p.m. Friday night in a shooting that also took the life of 18-year-old Edwin Barrera. National City police responded to calls of shots fired on East 17th Street in National City and found two people lying on the street. A Halloween party had just broken up.
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Del Valle said her daughter was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Just over two years ago, in July 2020, Gillian’s older sister, 19-year-old Janessa, was shot and killed and Gillian, who was 13-years-old at the time, was attacked. It happened when the two girls left their Bonita apartment where they lived with their mother to confront internet bullies who were body-shaming Gillian, according to Del Valle.
"I do know that this is the second time I have lost a daughter through gun violence so I'm taking it very personal," Del Valle said. "I feel that this person needs to be caught, and he needs to be taken out of the streets to prevent another person, another child like my daughter, like, you know, this, like the young man that was shot, and for more crime to, you know, stop the crime ... another tragedy from happening again."
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Del Valle spoke with NBC 7 because she said she wants to stop gun violence.
"It would mean a lot to me," Del Valle said regarding someone coming forward with information about her daughter's death.
She's also cautioning parents and children to be more aware. After losing Janessa, she did everything she could to protect Gillian. She drove Gillian to a party that Friday night where she knew everyone who was attending. For some reason, she said, Gillian left the party with her girlfriends and took an Uber to the party in National City.
Del Valle said she find out about the shooting because she was monitoring Gillian’s social media and saw a message someone had written about Gillian being shot. She was able to rush to the hospital and be there “when she took her last breath," she said.
