As Orlando braces for the 10-year commemoration of the Pulse nightclub shooting, there’s another sad milestone this week: It’s been a decade since the murder of singer Christina Grimmie at the Plaza Live.
On Friday, June 10, 2016, Grimmie had just finished playing a concert with friends in Before You Exit at the Plaza Live. Grimmie, an outgoing 22-year-old pop singer on the rise, YouTube star and former contestant on TV singing competition The Voice, was talking to fans and signing autographs as part of a post-gig meet-and-greet.
During the meet-and-greet, however, 27-year-old Kevin Loibl — later described by police as an obsessive fan — approached Grimmie, produced a handgun and shot her. Her brother, Marcus Grimmie, tackled Loibl. As they struggled, Loibl shot and killed himself.
Just over a day later, the Pulse nightclub shooting happened a few miles away.
Over the last 10 years, Grimmie’s family have worked diligently to to carry on her name and honor her memory, launching the Christina Grimmie Foundation, dedicated to providing monetary aid to victims of gun violence. That Foundation is currently in the midst of a 10 for Ten fundraising campaign, with “every dollar raised going directly towards” families impacted by gun violence.
And today (Wednesday, June 10), a new documentary about Grimmie’s life has been released on her YouTube channel, Christina Grimmie: Her Voice and Legacy a Decade Later. The 37-minute-long documentary illuminates and expands on Grimmie’s story through interviews with family and loved ones.
“Christina was my little sister, my best friend, and the most fearless person I’ve ever known. Watching this community come together to honor her, 10 years later, still going strong, it fills me up every single time. She would have been so embarrassed by all the fuss, and so secretly overjoyed by every bit of it. That was her,” said Marcus Grimmie in a press statement.
“This month is for her, but it’s also for everyone she touched. Because that’s who Christina was. She didn’t just sing for you. She sang with you.”
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