UPDATED: First victims of Orlando gay club massacre named
At least 50 people were killed and 53 were injured in the shooting at Pulse over the weekend.
With more than a hundred now confirmed dead or injured, the shooting has become the worst in American history.
Omar Mateen was named as the shooter in the incident which killed at least 50.
As of this morning (June 13), the city of Orlando had released the following names of victims on its website.
Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
Stanley Almodovar III, 23
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
Luis S. Vielma, 22
Kimberly Morris, 37
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35
Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50
Amanda Alvear, 25
Martin Benitez Torres, 33
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26
Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25
Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31
Miguel Angel Honorato, 30
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19
Cory James Connell, 21
Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
Luis Daniel Conde, 39
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33
Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
Below is information learnt about some of the victims so far.
Edward Sotomayor Jr. – 34
Edward Sotomayor Jr. worked as the brand manager for Al and Chuck Travel – a company that specialising in holidays for gay people.
The owner of the company, Al Ferguson, wrote he was at the hospital with Sotomayor’s family and felt “empty” upon hearing the news.
“One of the saddest days of my life,” he wrote on Facebook. “I will try to start to find the good in all of this.”
Ferguson also shared a video he said Sotomayor sent him shortly before the shooting, urging him to join him at Pulse – watch the clip below.
Juan Ramon Guerrero – 22
Guerrero was at the club with his boyfriend, Drew Leinonen, who remains unaccounted for.
Friends wrote tributes to Guerrero on his Instagram account, saying they couldn’t believe he had been taken so soon.
“I’m so messed up about this,” one friend wrote. “You didn’t deserve to have your life taken away. This hate needs to stop. Rest in peace.”
Leinonen’s mother has featured on various new programmes since the shooting, praying for her son’s return.
Stanley Almodovar III, 23
Almodovar was originally from Massachusetts but was living in Clermont, Florida, where he worked as a pharmacy technician.
Many friends posted on his Facebook page after his death was announced – with one person writing that he was “always bubbly and super down to earth and such a sweet guy.”
KJ Morris, 37
KJ Morris worked as a bouncer at Pulse on the night of the shooting. Friends said they remembered Morris’ dancing and infectious smile.
“You always lit up a room with your smile,” Latricia Brown wrote on Facebook.
“That beautiful smile will forever be engraved in my mind,” Ashley Ann Matthews added.
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30
Eddie texted his mother as the madness unfolded around him.
He told her he loved her and asked her to call the police.
“Mommy I love you. In club they shooting,” to which she replies: “U ok”. He then writes: “Trapp [sic] in bathroom”.
When his mum asks “what club”, the man wrote a number of messages, replying: “I’m gonna die”.
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20
Friends and family identified Capo as “Omar” on Facebook.
One relative asked his friends to pray for his family in light of Capo’s death.
“God bless us all and give us strength in our time of need,” he wrote.
“Lord guide us with your light so we don’t live in fear of the darkness evil brings.”
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
Originally from Puerto Rico, Ortiz had been married to his husband for nearly a year.
“I have no words to describe this great friend and human being, and above all, my brother,” a close friend wrote on Facebook.
“Everyone who knows us knows what a great friendship we shared and what a great man he was. I adore you. You’ll always be in my heart.”
His cousin, Orlando Gonzalez described him as “artistic” and a “goofball” who liked to dance.
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
Peter Ommy Gonzalez-Cruz worked at UPS.
In a Facebook post, Cruz’s mother thanked everyone for their sympathy.
“Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love that you have shown me regarding my son,” she wrote.
“I will keep you informed. As a mother, I feel a deep and immense pain as everyone else who’s going through this.”
Luis S. Vielma, 22
Vielma was a student at Seminole State College of Florida and worked at Universal Orlando Resort, operating the ride ‘Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey’.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted her grief over his death. “He was 22 years old. I can’t stop crying.”
