TEWKSBURY, Mass. (WHDH) – The family of a Tewksbury woman shot and killed at a country music festival in Las Vegas described her as “perfect in every sense of the word.”
Rhonda LeRocque, 41, was killed when police said 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock unleashed a hail of bullets on about 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival show.
“My first thought waking up this morning is I’ll never see my baby girl again. I loved her so much,” said Priscilla Champagne, LeRocque’s mother, as she fought through tears.
Champagne said LeRocque was the perfect daughter, wife and mother, describing her as “one in a million.” LeRocque was a devout Jehovah’s Witness and worked at a design firm in Cambridge.
LeRocque was at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival with her husband Jason, their daughter and her father-in-law. Champagne said the concert tickets were a gift and was meant to be the first leg of a family vacation; they planned on taking their daughter to Disneyland next. LeRocque’s father-in-law and daughter left the show early, just minutes before Paddock opened fire.
“They went back to the hotel room. And during that next set it all happened. I’m just grateful that Jason didn’t get killed, that Ally was safe and that she didn’t have to see that happen to her mom,” said Champagne.
LeRocque’s family said their deepest comfort in all this cruelty comes from their faith.
“The Bible promises a resurrection. And my faith tells me she’ll be there because she’s worthy of it,” Champagne said.
Champagne says LeRocque’s husband is still in Las Vegas, trying to explain the tragedy to their daughter. She said her son-in-law is “distraught.”
“He doesn’t know how he’s going to do it with his daughter. He could never replace Rhonda,” said Champagne.
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