The parents of Josilyn Ruiz and Brandy Escamilla are speaking out for the first time since their daughters were killed at a music festival in Washington State on June 17.
Josilyn and Brandy had been a couple for 11 years before their lives were cut short by a lone gunman who began firing randomly at a camping area about 150 east of Seattle where an electronic dance music festival was taking place.
During an exclusive interview with People magazine, Josilyn’s parents, Anita and John, and Brandy’s parents, Blanca and Eddie, talked about their daughter’s love story and how they wanted it to inspire their family.
“They were meant to be together forever,” Blanca said. “They never did anything without each other – it was unique.” Anita added: “They taught us how to love unconditionally.”
According to their families, Josilyn, 26, and Brandy, 29, met at a high school softball game. They were nurses who had moved from the Los Angeles area to Seattle in 2021. Last year, Brandy proposed to Josilyn during a ski trip in Canada. Six months later, Josilyn proposed to Brandy.
“It’s so hard to accept the fact that you invest so much time and love in your little ones – so they will become good people, so they will become who they want to be professionally – and then just one day from another, they are taken from you,” Eddie said. “It’s just hard to accept, knowing the compassionate people they were. They didn’t deserve to die like that.”
Both Josilyn and Brandy were gay rights activists. Blanca said that it was important to them that all the kids in their families attended the wedding, so they understood that there was nothing wrong with a same-sex couple getting married.
“She wanted all the kids to see it’s okay to love another girl,” Blanca said.
Both sets of parents are going to Italy and Greece together, a vacation they had already planned to go on with their daughters. “We’re still going to do our Europe trip,” Anita said. “Life is short, and we should celebrate them.”