Hundreds of mourners descended on Magic Island in Honolulu on Tuesday to pay tribute to the life of slain influencer Theresa Cachuela.
On Friday, she was shot and killed by her estranged husband, Jason, in a shopping center parking lot in front of the couple's eight-year-old daughter. Jason then turned the gun on himself. She is survived by her three children.
Cachuela sold eyelashes, owned a beauty salon and offered makeup services.
During the wake, her biological father, Stephen Johnston, said Hawaii News Now she would regularly help coach him through issues in his life.
'And she's there, you know, coaching me through, “Dad, everything is going to be okay” … we had long discussions and conversations, she's my best friend. I mean, I'm going to miss my friend,” he told the station.
Theresa Cachuela was shot and killed by her estranged husband during Christmas shopping on Friday morning
Hundreds of mourners descended on Magic Island in Honolulu on Tuesday to pay tribute to the life of slain influencer Theresa Cachuela
At a wake, her biological father, Stephen Johnston, told Hawaii News Now that she would regularly help coach him through issues in his life
Meanwhile, friend and colleague Maurice Carlisle said he was most angry about “how everything turned out” and described his current feelings as “shocked.”
'She was very helpful in everything, very humble soul. Very modest person who didn't really ask much of her.'
The father of her eldest child, Stanton Anderson, said she was a “bright star” who everyone who knew her looked up to.
“My daughter told me last night that she doesn't have a mother who can see her graduate or have children; that really takes a toll on her life,” he added.
After the horrific shooting, Jason fled the scene in a gray Mazda and was later found dead nearby, apparently by suicide.
The shooting happened just two weeks after Theresa took out a restraining order against her husband, accusing him of harassment and stalking and telling the court she did so “to protect myself and her children.”
She wrote in the restraining order petition that he had repeatedly threatened to kill himself in front of her, tried to “break down my garage door,” hid under her car in her garage and held a knife to his throat, 'frightening and traumatizing'. ' her.
She reported his behavior to the police and wrote in the petition that he had several firearms with him.
The father of her eldest child, Stanton Anderson, said she was a 'bright star' who everyone who knew her looked up to
Friend and colleague Maurice Carlisle said he is most angry about “how everything happened” and described his current feelings as “shock.”
The shooting happened just two weeks after Theresa took out a restraining order against her husband, accusing him of harassment and stalking.
Her estranged husband fled the scene and was later found dead in an apparent suicide
Theresa's mother, Lucita Ani-Nihoa, previously told Hawaii News Now, “She's been trying to tell the police a few times about all the trouble that was going on about the gun he pulled on her. He threatened to kill her.”
She added: “They never arrested him, knowing he had guns, knowing he was trying to threaten, he threatened to kill the kids and her in her own garage.
'The court was not there for her.
'The system has failed her. And now she's gone.'
She added: “Her youngest daughter is the one who tragically saw it all. She is traumatized. She has so much confidence, this little girl. She just started praying.
'She doesn't believe it. She doesn't believe her mother is gone. I do not believe it.'
Ani-Nihoa said the couple had had marital problems for 11 years and Cachuela had recently filed for divorce, telling relatives she had been abused by her husband.
She said: 'She wanted to leave him but he wouldn't accept it. He tried to control her, with everything… where she would go and what she would do.”
The 33-year-old mother of three was a successful social media influencer and business owner
Theresa was shot Friday morning during Christmas shopping in a mall park
Theresa's family members were distraught and comforted each other in the aftermath of her murder
Ani-Nihoa said her daughter's murder could have been prevented if her requests for help had been taken more seriously.
The family started with one GoFundMe to help with funeral costs and support for the children.
On the page, Ani-Nihoa described the shooting. She said she was supposed to meet her daughter, whom the family called “Tita,” for breakfast Friday morning before the shooting.
She wrote: 'I wanted to give her and my grandchildren their Christmas presents. 'My daughter didn't deserve this.
“She tried so hard to get help, but the justice system failed her.”
'We are so devastated by the loss of our beloved Tita. This has been so difficult for our family and we were not prepared for it.”
Cachuela's cousin, Terrell Scott, said he wants the community to remember her as a devoted mother and business owner.
Theresa owned House of Glam Hawaii LLC in Waipahu.
Scott told KITV: “She was very supportive of her children and she did everything she could to protect them.
'She is super sweet and a wonderful woman. I love her and I'm sorry her children are going through this.”