One life lost; one life wasted

CLOVIS — Most of her last minutes on earth were spent laughing and joking with her 6-year-old son Diego as they ran along the trail that Sunday morning at the Goodwin Lake Park.

That’s not surprising; anybody who knew Ariel Ulibarri knew her world revolved around her children.

She participated in crazy hair day with her kids at school.

They did arts and crafts together at home. She went to their school for pickle day. She went to their school for popcorn day.

She took her lunch late at work so she could pick them up after school and get them a snack.

That last morning, on Nov. 9, 2014, she was shooting video of herself and Diego as they played together in the park.

“She would video herself running, selfie herself, then show Diego,” said Andrea Reeb, the prosecutor who sought justice for Ulibarri.

“They were laughing, then Diego would be behind and she would turn around and go back to him, talking to him the whole time, laughing and joking.”

The video police found on Ulibarri’s cell phone cut off just as she encountered Matthew Jennings on the trail, but he’s since told us the horrible details that followed.

He attacked her, he said, because he tried to talk to her and didn’t like her response. “He said she ‘dissed’ him, whatever that means,” Reeb said.

Diego told police his mother yelled at him to “run,” and so he did, to safety in the parking lot next to Prince Street.

Jennings then stabbed the young mother multiple times in the seconds that followed.

He took her cell phone initially, then threw it away when she received a call. He also threw away the knife he used to kill her.

On Thursday, Jennings was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the murder charge.

Most of us did not know Ariel Ulibarri before that horrible day.

We know her now because of it.

We know she was a dedicated 23-year-old mother of two who worked in Clovis restaurants, shared her dreams of a good life with her Facebook friends, and sometimes fell asleep nights watching TruTV.

We’ve learned a little about her killer as well.

He played youth baseball growing up in Clovis. Former Clovis Police Chief Dan Blair coached him twice, once as an all-star.

“Good athlete,” Blair remembered. “He was quiet, and always very polite.”

Jennings was a regular visitor to the Clovis-Carver Public Library in recent years, also described by those who remember him as quiet and polite, minding his own business reading and spending time on the computer.

He did not know Ulibarri before their chance encounter where he’d walked after buying breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

He’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia but was not taking medication for it, according to police.

He had a criminal record, but the only felony was for stealing a gun; the few misdemeanors involved disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and refusing to identify himself to police.

“He wasn’t even on our radar,” as a suspect in the slaying, Reeb said.

After he was jailed and medicated, Reeb said he was remorseful and insisted on accepting punishment for what he’d done.

His attorney told reporters he had a strong case for insanity; Jennings wanted nothing to do with it.

“My impression was that he wanted to take responsibility for it and serve his time,” Reeb said.

“I’m not sure if he was trying to save the family the pain of a trial, but that may have been (a factor).”

Throughout the two-plus years of court proceedings after Ulibarri’s death, Reeb said Jennings was “respectful, meek, quiet,” when questioned by doctors and law enforcement. “He admitted everything, in front of the entire family,” at a competency hearing, she said.

It’s hard to give Jennings credit for taking responsibility in the end, but at least the Ulibarri family was spared the stress and uncertainty of trial.

One life lost. One life wasted. A lot of lives left forever darker.

But there is inspiration to take from this tragedy — especially in Ariel’s parents.

Anna Montano, her mother, has become a stay-at-home granny, and a regular at the kids’ school, working hard to ensure they have stability and stay surrounded by love.

Mark Ulibarri, Ariel’s father, told loved ones at a memorial service that “Things happen ... but we still keep living and being happy, and we just keep enjoying life.”

So at least we have an example of what to do when life gets hard.

David Stevens is editor for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]