MARINETTE, Wis. (WFRV) – Family, friends, and community members gathered for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening to honor and remember Gabriella Cartagena.
“What hurts the most is knowing that there were supposed to be so many more (memories),” Gabriella’s sister-in-law, Brianna, said at the candlelight vigil. “More holidays, more laughs, more milestones.”
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Police say that Cartagena’s boyfriend, Robert Chilcote, shot and killed her at Red Arrow Park in Marinette after an argument. Cartagena was just 24 years old. Prosecutors have charged him with first degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin. He’s currently in a county jail in Minnesota on charges related to a high-speed chase with police after he allegedly shot Cartagena.
Police found her body in the Menominee, Mich. area. According to a criminal complaint obtained by Local 5 News, Chilcote admitted to police that he shot Cartagena but said he was just trying to scare her with the gun and that it fired accidentally.
Cartagena’s friends and family remember her as a very kind-hearted woman who also had a great sense of humor. An online obituary says that she loved to cook, be outdoors, and make memories with her family.
“The laughter, we laughed a lot at lunch time and when I’d pick her up and take her home, it was always laughter until we had tears in our eyes,” Susan Zemke said about Cartagena.
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The two women worked together at Walmart, and Zemke said they quickly became good friends.
“I kind of took her under my wing. She was walking to work, and I started giving her rides,” Zemke said. “We got close, and we started spending time together. We would spend our lunch times together, we went up to Lake Superior together, we did a lot of stuff together.”
Cartagena leaves behind a 3-year old daughter.
“(We lose) more moments watching her grow as a mother and watching her daughter grow up beside her,” Brianna said at the candlelight vigil.
The candlelight vigil was at Red Arrow Park, where police say that Chilcote shot and killed Cartagena.
“It’s nice to be here to remember her, but boy I miss her,” Zemke said.
“When I look around here tonight, I also see something powerful,” Brianna said at the vigil. “I see love, I see strength, and I see a community standing together, lifting each other up, and refusing to let Gaby’s memory be forgotten. For that, I truly want to thank every single person here.”
