Rocio Guillen
Rocio Guillen
Rocio Guillen Rocha (December 20, 1976 - October 1, 2017) was a resident of Anaheim, California. She was fatally shot in the Mandalay Bay Resort Shooting on October 1, 2017. [1]
Personal Life
Family
Family photo; Rocio Guillen is second from the right
She loved sports and was a supporting baseball mom to her kids.
Guillen was in a relationship with Chris Jaksha with 3 1/2 years; they got engaged in October 2015.
She and Chris had two children together (Guillen's two younger children).
Career
Professionally, Guillen was an Assistant General Manager at a California Pizza Kitchen in Santa Ana. Before that, she was a New Orleans Square food and beverage cast member at Disneyland.
Activities
Rocha was very passionate about traveling and athletics.
She like boxing and marathons, and was a longtime runner herself.
According to one of her friends, Max Ramirez, she used to run with friends in the Santa Ana River bottom and Turnbull Canyon trails in Whittier, California.
Her coaches and teammates from her high school track and cross country teams remember her very well.
Her former coach, Mike Cochrane, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal :
She had a great sense of humor and always had people laughing — even through the tough times. [... She was the] glue that held the team together.
Her oldest son, Marcus, said in a Facebook message that his mother became paralyzed after giving birth to his younger brother, Christopher and was told she would never walk again.
However, she proved them wrong and fought until she could.
She was athletic — into marathons and boxing — and loved traveling.
Her passion and escape was to run with friends in the Santa Ana River bottom and Turnbull Canyon trails in Whittier, Ramirez said via Facebook chat.
Death
Rocio Garcia with her fiancé Chris Jaksha, her daughter, and her newborn baby in the hospital room (circa August 2017)
On October 1, 2017, Rocio was killed in the Mandalay Bay Resort mass shooting. She was with her fiancé at the time.
After she was shot in her upper thigh, medical specialists wrapped her leg in a tourniquet. She was quickly rushed to the Las Vegas with the help of Jaksha. She died shortly thereafter.
She was on maternity leave taking care of her youngest son Austin when she passed.
Chris Jaksha posted the following statement on Facebook:
My love, my life was taken too soon yesterday. I can tell you that the past 3½ years have been the best of my life. She is someone special; she changes you, but in a positive way. You can’t even tell you have changed because of how patient and loving she is.
A candlelight vigil was held for her on October 5, 2017 at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.