Vigil honors mother's memory

link Staff photo: Brittney Cannon

A crowd gathered Monday night at Goodwin Lake Trails parking lot to have a candlelight vigil honoring Ariel Ulibarri. Monday was the one-year anniversary of her death.

The sun had set, but faces were aglow in the parking lot at Goodwin Lake Trails Monday evening, a year after Ariel Ulibarri’s life ended.

“Diego doesn’t want to go in there, so we’ll do it out here,” Mark Ulibarri, Ariel’s father, told a crowd gathered for the candlelight vigil.

Diego, Ariel Ulibarri’s now 7-year-old son, was with her the day she was attacked.

Leanna Montano, Ariel Ulibarri’s sister, and her mother, Anna Montano Ulibarri, along with other family members were the ones that decided a candlelight vigil was the best way to honor her memory.

“(We) decided to do one so no one will forget what happened, and we’ll remember that Ariel still needs justice,” Montano said. “We didn’t do one last year because it was really hard to do one.”

Ariel Ulibarri was killed in the park last Nov. 9. Police have since arrested Matthew Jennings and charged him with murder.

Family members have said Ulibarri did not know her alleged killer and a motive for the slaying remains unclear.

The pain of loss was still evident Monday night, as songs were played and words were spoken to honor Ariel Ulibarri. Tears were shed among those who attended, from the young to the old.

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“I hope she feels good about it, and I hope she was there with her kids,” Montano said. “For the most part, I just hope that she sees that people did love her.”

“She would appreciate every bit of it, what the community has done for her, for us, it’s been an honor to live in Clovis,” Mark Ulibarri said through tears. “Things happen, bad times, we just have to be the ones it happened to, but we still keep living and being happy, and we just keep enjoying life.”

Deacon Daniel Chavez of Our Lady of Guadalupe offered a prayer of encouragement to keep family and those who loved Ariel Ulibarri strong.

“We thank you for the time that you gave Ariel in this life, Lord,” Chavez prayed. “Yes, it’s very sad that she’s gone, but we know heavenly father that she won’t have to suffer anymore. ... We don’t understand why things happen the way they do, but what you want us to do is accept, Lord, and something like what happened to Ariel is kind of hard to accept, but we know that for some reason, you allowed it to happen, and for some reason you have brought us together so that we may realize that we’re all family.”

Montano said she hopes everyone remembers her sister’s kindness — despite her tendency to be a “firecracker,” she added, laughing — and hopes that justice can be brought soon.

“I just hope everyone remembers the good in Ariel, and I hope justice does get brought and people don’t forget,” Montano said. “It’s really sad ... if it was anyone of us she would’ve been there doing this for us.”

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said Jennings’ trial is tentatively set for June 6-10.

Jennings’ defense attorney Stephen McIlwain was unavailable for comment on Monday.