Bonita Vista High School students remembered their 16-year-old classmate shot and killed at a party on Halloween weekend in National City.
The on-campus vigil and words from Gillian Aguilera's mother and friends helped spread her mother's message that gun violence has to stop.
"I'm broken-hearted by losing her," Gillian's mother Diana Del Valle said. "She was my motivation. My reason for
continuing to try hard, and her not being here leaves an empty place in my heart."
Gillian's death was the second time in a little more than two years that tragedy derailed Del Valle's life. In July 2020, Gillian's sister Janessa, who was 19 at the time, was killed in a shooting.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
"It's important to spread the word that we need to keep a tighter leash on our kids and make sure this doesn't happen to another child out there because things are tough right now. It's sad," Del Valle said.
Del Valle said words from Gillian's school friends and teachers gave her strength.
"Se loved to style our friends I'm sure some of my friends are wearing clothes given from her, but she just loved sharing and making sure herself and us looked good when we went out," friend Mharck Cruz said.
"She influenced me to be a better teacher. Everyone she encountered, she just had that smile and the love as a person to make things better. And so we want to live that on in our own lives," former teacher Mike Ortiz said.
Gillian's father hopes her friends take this message from her memorial.
"Celebrate her life. Don't focus on what these cowards have done to her. Focus on how awesome she was and brought light into the room," Miguel Aguilera said.
There have been no arrests or suspects identified at this time. Anyone with information is urged to call the National City Police Department.
