The horrible shooting Sunday night in Las Vegas at a country music concert hurts twice as much for Chicago White Sox minor leaguer Mikey Duarte, as we’ve learned Tuesday that Duarte’s sister was killed in the attack and his girlfriend was shot in the face.
According to The Daily Breeze, Christiana Duarte and Ariel Romero were among the 58 dead and more than 500 injured in the shooting, which happened near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino as thousands of fans attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival, headlined by country music star Jason Aldean.
Mikey Duarte, 23, was drafted this year by the White Sox out of UC Irvine. He spent part of his offseason doing the unimaginable: Searching Las Vegas for his sister, who was considered “missing” until her death was confirmed Monday night, and waiting for updates about his girlfriend.
From the Daily Breeze:
“We’re searching for my sister,” Mikey Duarte said in a text to [his sister’s friend Maddie] Noble on Monday afternoon. “Pray hard please. I need my little sister. Her and Ariel are all I’ve really got.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, police found Duarte’s cellphone, credit cards and identification and returned it to her family members … Duarte graduated from South High School in Torrance and, in May, from the University of Arizona, where she was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority. She worked as a fan-services associate for the Los Angeles Kings.
Romero, who is Mikey Duarte’s girlfriend, is in stable condition, her aunt told The Daily Breeze. The gunshot to the face left her with a fractured jaw.
The shooting was so wide in scope that it affected many, many different communities, whether they’re cities, universities or — in Mikey Duarte’s case — the baseball community. Hall of Famer Bert Blylven’s son, Todd, himself a former minor leaguer, was at the concert and helped bring people to safety.
Bubba Derby, a current Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer, was there too with his family, but was able to leave safely.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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