Death of Christina Grimmie
| Death of Christina Grimmie | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Too bad you got murdered! Goodbye Christina Grimmie... we really liked your song covers!
| ||||||
|
Christina Victoria Grimmie (12.Mar 1994 - 10.Jun 2016) was an American singer and YouTuber known for her Song Covers.
Death
On June 10, 2016, Grimmie performed with Before You Exit at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. Earlier that day she posted a call out on social media asking people to come to the concert. After their performance ended at 10:00 PM local time, Grimmie signed autographs inside of the venue. At 10:24 PM, Grimmie was shot by 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl (March 10, 1989 – June 10, 2016) after initially opening her arms to give him a hug. As witnesses fled the scene, Loibl was tackled by Grimmie's brother, and the men scuffled. Loibl broke free, backed against a wall, and shot himself dead. Grimmie was on the ground and bleeding from the head; after CPR was performed on her, 911 was called and she was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition with four gunshot wounds; she was pronounced dead just before 11:00 PM local time. An autopsy revealed that Grimmie was shot once in the head and twice in the chest. Her death was declared a homicide.
The Orlando Police Department said Loibl had traveled by taxicab to Orlando from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, bringing two handguns, two extra magazines full of ammunition, and a large hunting knife. "The suspect traveled to Orlando apparently to commit this crime and then had plans to travel back to where he came from," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. According to Orlando police, the bags of the attendees would normally have been checked, but there were no metal detectors at the venue, nor were the attendees frisked. One witness complained that the security was concerned about food and beverages being brought into the theatre, but did not catch Loibl's guns. Witnesses described Loibl as "nervous" and "kinda creepy". Though Loibl did not have an arrest record in his home county, he had previous run-ins with the police and purchased the guns legally. He did not appear to know Grimmie personally; nor did Grimmie know of him. He also had no diagnosis of any mental illnesses, but had a history of violence. Police did not offer a motive, but said that Loibl had shown an "unhealthy and unrealistic infatuation" with the singer and tried to make himself more physically attractive for her through weight loss, hair plugs, and eye surgery. The Orlando Sentinel described his motive as "If I can’t have you, then nobody else can — and I'm going to possess you by taking your life." Although Loibl lived "like a hermit", his family said that they were not aware of his plans to travel to Orlando nor that he possessed any guns. They also stated that they had never heard of Grimmie, or seen Loibl talk about her, nor watch The Voice. However, his "only friend in the world" claimed to have known about Loibl's obsession, though not its extent; Loibl's co-workers stated the same. They also said Loibl would be "angry and defensive" when questioned about his obsession, and before the shooting had stated he was "tired and ready to ascend."
Aftermath
Grimmie was buried at Berlin Cemetery, in a private ceremony on June 16. The following day, thousands of friends and fans attended a public memorial held in Medford, New Jersey.