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  • John Carlos Nieves Rodriguez, 27 years old.

  • John started working at McDonald's at age 15 to help support his family,

  • and was recently made the manager of a check cashing store.

  • He purchased his first home this spring

  • so that his mother could live there too.

  • He loved to escape to the beach, though his best friend

  • called him a big Teddy bear who was happy when everyone depended on him.

  • Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old.

  • Stanley was a pharmaceutical technician

  • who kidded that the drug life chose me.

  • He always loved to change his hair color and style

  • almost as much as he loved flirting with the camera.

  • He once proclaimed yes, I wear makeup, and I'm still a man about it.

  • Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32.

  • DD was an employee of the Pulse nightclub

  • who had overcome struggles like a long ago car accident

  • and a more recent about with drugs.

  • She resumed attending church and writing poetry.

  • Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old.

  • Luis shared much with his partner in love and business, Juan Pablo Rivera Velazquez.

  • They even went to the same Puerto Rican high school.

  • At their salon, shy and affectionate Juan Pablo created hairstyles,

  • while gregarious Luis touched up clients' make up

  • and turned up the techno music.

  • Juan Pablo Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old.

  • Juan owned a hair salon together with his partner, Luis Daniel Conde.

  • The salon had a loyal client base

  • and occasionally offered free services

  • to victims of domestic abuse.

  • He and Luis were together for 16 years,

  • and died together at the club.

  • Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old.

  • Javier loved selling the latest fashions and accessories at Gucci,

  • and the company has arranged for his body

  • to be sent back to Puerto Rico.

  • He playfully reimagined his name on Facebook as Harvey George Kings,

  • and his pregnant friend recalled how he had an uncanny knack for making her baby kick.

  • Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old.

  • Shane wowed crowds as the lead singer of a cover band called Frequency.

  • He posted on Facebook about his own anxiety after another performer,

  • Christina Grimmie of The Voice, was gunned down in Orlando the night before.

  • Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37.

  • Danny liked to wear black and grow his sideburns long in his small town in Puerto Rico.

  • He encountered many bullies and moved to Florida on his own.

  • He fell in love with John Carlos Mendez Perez after they met at Perfumania.

  • And the fragrance that started the romance

  • was called Declaration by Cartier.

  • Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old.

  • Jean sold fragrances at a Perfumania outlet.

  • He later saw one appreciative customer

  • who had taken his recommendation at a club,

  • and the two began an eight-year relationship.

  • Jean and Danny Wilson Leon died together at Pulse.

  • Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old.

  • Alejandro left his native Cuba in 2014

  • and was still perfecting his English. His mother

  • was granted, through a letter to the new US Embassy in Havana,

  • a humanitarian visa to reclaim his body.

  • Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49.

  • She was a loving mother to 11 children.

  • She survived cancer twice.

  • She loved salsa dancing, which she was enjoying with her gay son, Isaiah,

  • whom she shielded from the gunfire.

  • Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old.

  • Chris was a personal banker at JP Morgan Chase,

  • visiting Orlando from Tampa.

  • He was an excellent dancer

  • who taught his friends how to do the bachata.

  • Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old.

  • Jimmy was a visual merchandiser at Forever 21,

  • and he joked that he was older than the demographic.

  • In his younger days, he traveled the world as a professionalbero dancer.

  • Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25.

  • Juan impressed his bosses as a housekeeping supervisor for resorts.

  • He was one of three Mexican citizens who died at Pulse.

  • They were all later honored by their homeland's government.

  • Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old.

  • Jerry loved both cats and dogs.

  • His own canine was called Rusty.

  • He had a quiet and kind personality

  • that suited his Disney workplace, where he was assigned to a position

  • on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, and before that Tomorrowland.

  • Antonio Brown, 29 years old.

  • Antonio, an alumnus of Florida A&M,

  • handled human resources at a Lowe's store.

  • In college, he joined the ROTC program

  • and later served a year-long tour of duty in Kuwait.

  • In 2012, the army awarded him the rank of Captain.

  • Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old.

  • Miguel, who came to the United States from Mexico at age 4,

  • was a soccer fan and a catering company manager.

  • He leaves behind his three sons who were 15, 2, and 1.

  • He recently organized a Ferrari-themed birthday party for his youngest.

  • Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25 years old.

  • Anthony moved from Puerto Rico three years ago

  • to become a choreographer.

  • He showed a talent for dancing by age 10,

  • and became a master of many styles, ballroom, tango, salsa, and mambo.

  • KJ Morris 37 years old.

  • KJ worked as a bouncer at Pulse, and

  • had moved from Hawaii in April to help her mother and grandmother.

  • She loved drag performances, college basketball, and MMA fights.

  • Edward Sotomayor, Jr., 34 years old.

  • Edward made it his mission to open the doors for gay Americans to travel the world,

  • and recently coordinated the first ever gay cruise to Cuba.

  • He had a signature accessory, his prized black top hat.

  • Frank Hernandez, 27 years old.

  • Frankie managed a Calvin Klein store and lived for fashion.

  • He was planning to go to a pride celebration in New Orleans.

  • He liked to show off a tattoo on his forearm

  • that read, "Love has no gender."

  • Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old.

  • Akyra was on vacation after her graduation from a Philadelphia Catholic high school.

  • She was third in her class.

  • She led the ladies Spurs basketball team with more than 1,000 points,

  • and earned a full college scholarship.

  • She was the youngest of the victims.

  • Joel Rayon Paniagua, 31 years old.

  • Joel found work on construction sites

  • and sent portions of his paycheck home to relatives in Mexico.

  • A loyal churchgoer, he came to America

  • because his cousin said there was a lot of crime, violence, and death where he grew up.

  • Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old.

  • Jonathan was an assistant producer on La Voz kids Telemundo singing competition show

  • for young viewers.

  • He died, according to investigators,

  • after standing between the shooter and his friend Mary,

  • who was the mother of a newborn.

  • Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old.

  • Mary planned this Saturday night out with friends,

  • a treat after she gave birth to her second son three months ago.

  • She steered everyone towards a gay club

  • to avoid the kind of violence that had recently occurred at another local club.

  • Geraldo Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old.

  • Geraldo, who liked to be called Drake,

  • saved up for his trip from Puerto Rico to Orlando

  • all to see his pop idol, Selena Gomez, perform in concert

  • the night before the shooting.

  • He was working toward his college degree with big dreams and an optimistic outlook.

  • Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old.

  • Gilberto was an only child who left Puerto Rico three years ago.

  • He was completing his studies in health care management,

  • and the dog show community saluted him as "one of our own."

  • his favorite breed was a saint bernard.

  • Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old.

  • Mercedes moved far from her home in Queens

  • to study literature at Valencia College.

  • She had a love of music fostered by close family members who were DJs.

  • She hoped to become a party planner.

  • Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old.

  • Peter, who called himself Omi,

  • worked for UPS and liked to draw.

  • He was a fun magnet, so much so that his aunt

  • said, "If Peter is not at the party, no one wants to go."

  • Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old.

  • Rody handled other people's blood donations for a living,

  • and was recently promoted to platelet supervisor.

  • He was a skilled salsa dancer and also

  • a prankster who could rock a bow tie.

  • Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old.

  • Paul was a strong singer who could

  • play the piano and the organ, though he never had a lesson.

  • He worked in sales at a resort, and was

  • proud that one of his two daughters recently earned her high school diploma.

  • Xavier Emmanuel Serrano, 35 years old.

  • Xavier moved from Puerto Rico 10 years ago

  • and booked gigs as a professional salsa dancer at Walt Disney World and on large cruise ships.

  • He had a five-year-old son, and often took side jobs for extra dollars.

  • He recently found work at a shoe store

  • because the hours were better for raising his boy.

  • Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old.

  • Tevin was a young business owner of a Michigan-based marketing

  • company with 20 employees.

  • He spread enthusiasm and inspired ambition among his colleagues with motivational memes

  • and the hashtag #LoveMyTeam.

  • Amanda Alvear, 25 years old.

  • Amanda shed 180 pounds with the help of surgery and exercise.

  • She hoped to leave her job in a pharmacy once she completed her nursing degree.

  • She documented her new look in selfies and treated herself and her nieces to new clothes.

  • Eddie Justice. 30 years old.

  • Eddie worked as an accountant.

  • He texted his mother during the attack.

  • While waiting in the hospital, his mother described him

  • as a young professional who

  • lives in a sky house like the Jefferson's.

  • She said he liked to live rich.

  • Work, Eddie.

  • His relatives described him as a mama's boy at heart

  • with a smile as bright as his future.

  • Angel LA Candelario-Padro, 28 years old.

  • Angel had recently moved from Chicago to Orlando

  • and found a job that he liked in a medical practice for eye doctors.

  • He had his own mission, though, on the side, leading workout classes as a Zoomba instructor.

  • Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old.

  • Simon boosted the morale at the McDonald's

  • that he managed by bringing his colleagues cakes on their birthdays.

  • Born in Venezuela, he had just traveled to Canada with his partner, Oscar Aracena-Montero.

  • They stopped to see Niagara Falls.

  • Oscar Aracena-Montero, 26 years old.

  • Oscar, a business student, who recently returned home from a Canadian vacation with his partner Simon, who

  • also died at Pulse.

  • Last year the two chose three chihuahuas to liven up the house that they bought together.

  • Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old.

  • Jason was studying computer science at Valencia College.

  • He developed passions for photography, hip hop dance, and gymnastics.

  • And his high school classmates recalled

  • he would playfully challenge his fellow members of the cheer squad to tumbling contests.

  • Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old.

  • Roy recently moved to Orlando to care for his mother

  • and took a job as an apartment rental agent.

  • His coworkers recall that he liked to blast Adele songs in the office.

  • In his spare time, he choreographed original drag routines, with many set to Beyonce and J-Lo tracks.

  • Enrique Rios, 25 years old.

  • Enrique was a faithful churchgoer, nursing student,

  • and elder care social worker.

  • He lived with his grandmother in Brooklyn.

  • He could dance the bachata and the soca.

  • He was on vacation in Orlando to celebrate a good friend's birthday,

  • Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old.

  • Darryl administered financial aid to military students at a Jacksonville college.

  • A former McDonald's manager, he just

  • completed his master's degree in human resources management,

  • and was celebrating at Pulse.

  • Cory James Connell, 21 years old.

  • Cory balanced his studies at Valencia College with his job at a public supermarket.

  • He was working toward a goal, to join the fire department.

  • After his passing, fire officials made him an honorary firefighter.

  • Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old.

  • Martin was newly enrolled as a pharmacy student in Tampa.

  • He was in Orlando to visit his aunt and other family members.

  • That day, he posted photos of the food that his mother in Puerto Rico had

  • sent to Orlando for all their relatives to enjoy.

  • Luis Vielma, 22 years old.

  • Luis was working towards becoming an EMT first responder

  • while he worked at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando.

  • Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted

  • how her connection to Luis touched her

  • so deeply that she couldn't stop crying.

  • Omar Capo, 20 years old.

  • Omar held jobs at Target and Starbucks

  • while he set his sights on being a professional dancer and actor.

  • After the shooting, his grandmother

  • flew to be with family, and jetBlue flight attendants

  • circulated a note of support for passengers to sign.

  • Upon landing, each deplaning passenger offered her personal condolences,

  • and some added long letters and cash donations.

  • Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old.

  • Eric held retail jobs at Toys R Us and then Ross.

  • He did not frequent clubs like Pulse,

  • but followed a crowd of friends who had begun the night at a house warming party.

  • He is survived by his husband of nearly one year.

  • Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old.

  • Juan was in his third year of college

  • with a side job as a telemarketer,

  • and had begun a romance with Drew Leinonen.

  • He came out to his family not long ago.

  • And for his upcoming birthday, they were planning to go ahead with his party anyway,

  • with his mother cooking his favorite foods.

  • Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old.

  • Christopher, who went by Drew, was a mental health therapist

  • who founded a gay-straight alliance in high school.

  • He was a vegetarian, an EDM enthusiast,

  • and a film buff with a massive collection of DVDs.

  • Friends and family predicted wedding bells for Drew

  • and his soulmate, Juan, who died with him at Pulse.

  • It's time to stop the bleeding.

  • Let's show the world that love conquers hate.

  • Join me.

  • Join me.

  • Join me and the Human Rights Campaign

  • to demand common sense laws to protect the LGBTQ community and

  • all Americans from hate violence.

  • Unete hoy la Campania de los Derechos Humanos y

  • mostremos al mundo que la amor vence al odio.

  • Love conquers hate.

John Carlos Nieves Rodriguez, 27 years old.

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