Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Heather Ann Barela, a foster and adoptive mother, was shot and killed in Santa Clara Thursday.
- A minor family member was arrested for investigation of murder and aggravated assault.
- Family remembers Barela's passion for helping children and uplifting those around her.
WEST VALLEY CITY — Even a day later, Jennifer Chacon still struggles to believe her sister is gone.
"It's sunk in quite a bit more, but it just doesn't seem real," Chacon said.
Her sister, 44-year-old Heather Ann Barela, was shot and killed in her Santa Clara home on Thursday evening.
Chacon had just seen her a couple of weeks earlier for a wedding in northern Utah.
"The rest of her family couldn't go but she came up. Family is everything to her," Chacon said. "She stayed at my house for a couple of weeks, and I look back at that time, and I'm so grateful that I got to see her and spend some more time with her before she's gone."
Brandon Alfred Barela, 20, was also shot and sustained injuries not considered to be life-threatening. He also lived in the home.
Santa Clara-Ivins police said a family member was arrested for investigation of murder and aggravated assault. Police only confirmed that the suspect was a "minor" but declined to release the age, sex or any other information about the suspect.
Heather Ann Barela was more than a mother to her own two biological children — she was also a foster and adoptive mother to five more.
"She just loved kids," Chacon said. "She was just that kind of person. She just wanted to give every kid a second chance. No kid should be in the foster system their whole life. Her husband was adopted so they both understand the importance of it."
As the family deals with their loss, they choose to focus on the way Barela lived.
She loved board games, had a deep care for animals, and, most of all, had the ability to uplift those around her.
"You could talk to her about your problems, and she would validate them," said her brother Eric Braunberger. "I remember she was so proud of me and kept telling me to go, go, go when I was remodeling homes. She makes me want to be a better person myself."
He also remembers her as someone who would stop whatever she was doing to make sure others were taken care of.
"Any time you spent with her or talked with her on the phone, and I talked to her several times a week, you would come away feeling good and happy," Braunberger said.
"I remember she told me with her children, she said 'Become an expert with whatever they are into right now.' If it is "Paw Patrol," become an expert."
The family is still waiting for answers on what happened and why, but they already know none of it will ever make sense.
"She's just a generous, loving person," Chacon said.
A candlelight vigil for Barela is planned for Monday at Barela's mother's house in Roy. The address is 4631 Trail Side Drive, and it will be at 7 p.m.
Another candlelight vigil is also planned at the same time in Santa Clara at the crossroads of Circle Drive and Santa Clara View Drive.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help her husband with funeral costs and to support their children.
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