SEATTLE — The mother of a woman who was murdered in a Shoreline apartment said she wants people to remember her daughter as loving and always smiling.
"She would never hurt a flea, ever, ever, ever," Vicky Garcia said.
Garcia said she is still in shock over the loss of her daughter, Randee Leeann Rios.
Rios was killed in an apartment in Shoreline Saturday night. Charging documents on the arrest of the murder suspect, Tyrone Wells, said Rios was killed after being struck in the head multiple times.
Wells called 911 and confessed to killing her, according to the charging documents. Wells now faces a first-degree murder charge and is currently being held at the King County Jail on $5-million bail. He has yet to make a plea in his case.
Garcia said her daughter had known Wells for at least a couple of years.
"I just don't understand why he would do such a thing. It's just so horrible. I had no idea he was capable, or even that type of person, you know?" Garcia said.
Garcia spoke to KING 5 on Thursday, days after her daughter's murder, to show how she will be remembered.
"She was very loving and caring," Garcia said.
Garcia said her daughter was born in Redlands, California, grew up in Cortez, Colorado, and moved to Seattle, where she attended high school.
Garcia said Rios gave birth to a daughter who died of sudden infant death syndrome when she was three months old.
"I know now that she'll be with her daughter you know, in heaven," Garcia said.
Garcia said Rios also has a nine-year-old son, who is in foster care. Garcia said Rios sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car accident when she was six years old and grew up with a disability that prevented her from raising her son.
"I just give her all my love and I miss her so much. You know, I just miss her so much," Garcia said.
A friend of the victim's family has set up a fundraising page for memorial and funeral expenses.