The families and friends of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz, the engaged couple that was killed at Beyond Wonderland at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre over the weekend, continue to grapple with the tragedy of losing their loved ones.
On Saturday night, Escamilla and Ruiz — who lived in Seattle but were originally from Southern California — were allegedly shot and killed by shooting suspect James M. Kelly, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army who opened fire at the festival’s campgrounds, according to police.
The shooting left three other people — Lily Luksich, 20, Lori Williams, 61, and August Morningstar — injured. According to Grant County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Kyle Foreman, the suspect fired “randomly into the crowd” in the campground area and continued to do so until he was “eventually taken into custody.”
Ruiz’s younger sister, Julia Ruiz, tells Rolling Stone that Josilyn was her “biggest inspiration” and a “walking ray of sunshine” who helped her navigate her teenage years.
“She taught me self-love, tough love, and her relationship with Brandy showed me the greatest love,” Julia says. “We both left home to pursue work and school in other states and although we were almost 3,000 miles away from each other, she never failed to check in on me every few days and send me random ‘love you’ texts and silly selfies that always made my day.”
Josilyn loved music and took Julia to her first-ever concert to see their favorite band, Paramore. “We were hoping to see [the band] again together in July,” she says.
Julia describes Josilyn and Brandy as a “package deal” and that Brandy was Josilyn’s “soulmate.” They had an “unconditional and unbreakable, something so profound that I always envied.” The two of them met 11 years ago and since then became like “another big sister” to Julia. Escamilla proposed to Ruiz during a trip to Canada, and the following year Ruiz proposed to Escamilla on a boat near Seattle, their friend Devon Breithart said on Facebook.
“It was obvious to many that their love was something extraordinary… Her love for my sister was something I always admired,” Julia says. “As they got older, their love for music, especially electronic dance music, continued to evolve.”
Julia remembers that during the pandemic, the couple even threw a “live-streamed rave” in their family room and got her and their parents to dance with them to EDM. “They did everything together, never wanted to leave each other’s side,” she says.
Julia nicknamed her sister Jossi and her sister-in-law Branster the Hamster. Julia describes her last visit to Seattle to see them as “one of the best weekends of my life.” During the trip, they all went out to a karaoke bar where their “outgoing and fearless” personalities inspired her to sing in front of a crowd of strangers.
“They knew how to live life to the fullest and touched anyone they encountered, making friends with strangers they met anywhere they went,” she says. “Our love for them will never die and we look forward to one day meeting them on the other side.”
Brandy’s aunt, Alex Escamilla, shared a GoFundMe to help raise costs to cover funeral expenses and to bring her belongings home to Southern California where she was raised. Alex described Brandy as a “kind, caring” person.
“She was a huge light in our lives with a lot of goals and ambitions to look forward to,” Alex wrote. “She and her fiancée enjoyed going on endless adventures alongside their cat, Otis, and their friends.”
Josilyn’s sister-in-law Leilani Ruiz also set up a GoFundMe that has raised more than $68,000 at press time. “Her personality was bubbly and full of joy, you would tend to find her doing something goofy to get a good laugh,” Leilani wrote. “Josilyn was a beautiful girl who is the definition of work hard- play hard. There are not enough words to describe the wonderful person she is and the wonderful life she lived.”
Both Ruiz and Escamilla worked as nurses and loved to help others, their family members said. The couple had a cat named Otis. Breithart said she set up “kitty cat playdates” with Otis and her own cat Lunchbox.
“Brandy would describe Otis as a ‘sour patch kid’ and she was definitely not ready to be sweet to Lunchy just yet,” Breithart wrote. “But on the friends front… they were both so cool and fun, and we couldn’t wait to spend more time with them.”
Breithart and her partner Spencer were taking care of Otis while the couple attended the festival. Before the couple left for Beyond Wonderland’s campgrounds, the couple showed Breithart the “cute manicures with mushroom designs” that they got specifically for the Beyond Wonderland festival where they died.
“I just wish I could go back and beg them not to leave,” she wrote. “You just don’t really expect that at an event attended by tens of thousands of people, the only two people killed would be your friends.”
Ruiz’s family is being represented by Kevin Boyle of Panish Shea Boyle Ravipudi LLP, the same counsel that represented victims of the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas. Boyle is working with the Ruiz family to investigate what led to the shooting.
“The families of the victims are suffering intensely,” Boyle tells Rolling Stone. “They are not litigious people, and they are not after money, but they do want to know why this happened and how it can be prevented in the future.”