As night fell in Stockton on Wednesday, candles were placed at the In-N-Out on March Lane in honor of a 23-year-old In-N-Out employee killed on Aug. 1 in a mass shooting in Idaho.
A candlelight vigil was held in the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant, where family, friends and community members remembered Stockton resident Ashley Garibay.
Garibay was among the three people killed in the shooting at a newly opened In-N-Out in Twin Falls, where she was helping open the restaurant as an All Star, a highly skilled, experienced employee chosen to help open new restaurant locations.
Although she worked at the March Lane location, she traveled to new In-N-Out locations to help train employees, according to USA Today.
Crowds of people held candles or flowers as they waited for the vigil to begin. Restaurant workers and managers also joined the memorial, with some still wearing their uniforms.
At the center of the group was Sabrina Garibay, Ashley Garibay’s mother. She stood beside Ashley Garibay’s sister, father and best friend.
Sabrina Garibay, who wore a white In-N-Out shirt, was the first speaker of the evening. She said her daughter was her best friend and a positive, amazing woman.
She said she was overwhelmed and could not thank the Stockton and Twin Falls communities enough for their outpouring of support during this time.
“I may sound like I’m really strong. Deep down I’m not,” Sabrina Garibay said. “I tell everyone, if you feel the need to cry, you need to let it out. You need to cry.”
The mother said anyone who knew her daughter knew she loved In-N-Out. It was Ashley Garibay’s first job at 16, and she dreamed of one day owning her own restaurant and eventually moving into a corporate role.
“In-N-Out was her,” Sabrina Garibay said. “In-N-Out was her family.”
She said her daughter spent more time at the restaurant than at home with her family. Garibay had been an All Star for more than two years, helping open restaurants in Texas, Idaho and Washington.
The mother shared where she was when she learned what had happened to her daughter, a story she said remains with her.
Sabrina Garibay said that although she eats at In-N-Out and loves the restaurant, she usually had her daughters bring the food home.
On the day of the shooting, she happened to be in the drive-thru at the In-N-Out in Lathrop at about 2:15 p.m., a place she said she typically would not be. She said she was on her way to Manteca when she decided to stop at the restaurant. At 2:30 p.m., when she reached her destination, she received a phone call about what had happened to her daughter.
Sabrina Garibay said she learned that her daughter had been working the drive-thru in Twin Falls, a station she normally did not cover.
“The moment she was hurt, I felt like I was with her because I was in the In-N-Out drive-thru, the same time this horrendous act happened to her … and that touches me,” Sabrina Garibay said. “I felt like she was with me.”
Ashley Garibay left for Twin Falls on July 21.
Since her daughter’s death, Sabrina Garibay said she has heard countless stories about her daughter from co-workers, customers and friends who said she helped them and brought a smile to their faces.
“Everything that she has done, every life she has impacted, I can’t be more proud,” Sabrina Garibay said. “She’s a beautiful soul, an amazing girl and I couldn’t be more proud [as a] mother.”
She said her daughter, whose smile she believes lives in the sky, loved people, music, the beach and her friends.
The next speaker was Ashley Garibay’s best friend, Alissa Juarez. She described Garibay as a beautiful soul and a constant source of support through life’s highs and lows.
Juarez said that one day during a closing shift, she asked whether anyone wanted to go to Denny’s after work. In the end, only she and Ashley Garibay went. Juarez said the outing created a bond she didn’t even know she needed.
“She turned into not only a best friend, but a sister,” Juarez said. “Till the day that she died, she called me every day … now I live through videos and voice memos, which breaks my heart.”
A common thread in each speaker’s memories of Ashley Garibay was her smile, which many described as a “beautiful, bright smile.”
One speaker, who was in Hawaii, spoke about her close friendship with Ashley Garibay through a FaceTime call. She said she, Ashley Garibay and Juarez were part of a close-knit trio.
As she cried during the FaceTime call, she said she loved her friend very much and described Ashley Garibay as a light in the world who made people feel loved.
The store manager of the Stockton In-N-Out where Ashley Garibay worked and one of her managers, both of whom declined to be identified, also spoke during the vigil.
They said they watched her grow and move up to different levels within the company and cherished the memories they created while working with her.
Just before the candle lighting began, Ashley Garibay’s mother shared another memory of her daughter, one that made the crowd laugh.
She said her daughter had called to tell her she got a job interview, but when asked where, she could not say.
“It just happened so fast. I don’t know what they said,” Ashley Garibay told her mother. “It was Outback or In-N-Out. I don’t know.”
Her mother then called the phone number that had contacted her daughter. When someone answered, she asked, “Is this Outback?” When the person said no, she apologized for calling the “wrong number,” then called her daughter back and told her the right place was In-N-Out.
“Mom, you’re my hero,” Ashley Garibay told her mother.
The mother said it was a memory she and her daughter always laughed about.
“It’s just a memory I will forever cherish because she loved her job so much,” Sabrina Garibay said. “This wasn’t a job to her. It was a passion.”
Following the speeches, everyone in attendance lit a candle to leave at the site.
Ashley Garibay’s mother, sister and father were the first to place their candles and take a moment to pay tribute to their loved one.
As the In-N-Out sign illuminated the space alongside the flickering candles, a prayer was said for Ashley Garibay.
“My baby girl is gone, but she left this world doing what she loved,” Sabrina Garibay said.
Details of the mass shooting
The Twin Falls City Communications Center received 911 calls at about 2:29 p.m. on Aug. 1, reporting shots fired at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Police said the shooting left three people dead, seven others injured, and the suspect also died.
The victims were identified by the Twin Falls Police Department as Ashley Garibay, Dale Schultz, 66, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Christopher Claunch, 59, of Hagerman, Idaho.
The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Chad Williams. Police said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An armed citizen and an off-duty state trooper both fired at Williams. Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks called the citizen and trooper “heroic” during a news conference on Aug. 2.
Record reporter Victoria Franco covers public safety in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at vfranco@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Memorial honors Stockton In-N-Out employee killed in Idaho shooting
Reporting by Victoria Franco, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Victoria Franco, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
