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The devastated husband of the showgirl murdered in a stabbing attack on the Las Vegas Strip has told DailyMail.com he is going through ‘a horrible time’ in the wake of his wife Maris Digiovanni’s death.
Former soldier Cole Jordan, 29, also said he has been in touch with the other showgirls injured in the attack and revealed two of them have now recovered enough to leave hospital.
He said: ‘One of them is out of the hospital. One that’s recovering at home and one that’s pretty well off although she’s not out and about for anything.’
Cheryl Lowthorp, 52, who owns Best Showgirls in Vegas, also paid tribute to her murdered employee and described her as ‘courageous and kind’.
She also urged acceptance of outsiders such as Barrios, telling the crowd: ‘When people don’t feel accepted for who and what they are, this is what happens.’
Maris DiGiovanni’s husband, Cole Jordan, pictured with a friend at a remembrance for his wife held at Cornerstone Park in Las Vegas on Saturday
Jordan, 29, told DailyMail.com that he has been enduring a ‘horrible time’ following the tragic death of his wife
Jordan, 29, also said he has been in touch with the other showgirls injured in the attack and revealed two of them have now recovered enough to leave hospital
Jordan said: ‘One of them is out of the hospital. One that’s recovering at home and one that’s pretty well off although she’s not out and about for anything’
Jordan pictured at a floral tribute and collage that was created in memory of his wife
A floral tribute in remembrance was set up in a park gazebo where people could sit and remember Maris
Sadness and quiet reflection was seen in many as the vigil ended with fire lanterns floating off into the nights sky
Earlier, she told DailyMail.com that the criminal justice system is ‘flawed’ after it emerged that Barrios could have been behind bars after being charged with felony domestic violence in Los Angeles, California, in 2018.
Cole, who met his late wife in seventh grade, was speaking ahead of a vigil for Digiovanni, 30, who died when she was stabbed in the heart by crazed knifeman Yoni Barrios, 32, on Thursday.
Brent Allen Hallett was also killed in the attack, while Digiovanni’s colleagues Anna Westby, 26, Victoria Cayetano and a third girl who asked to use only her first name, Selina, were injured.
The quartet were walking along the Las Vegas Strip close to the Venetian when they refused Barrios – an alleged illegal immigrant from Guatemala – a selfie and he attacked.
Maris’ father Vernon Digiovanni, 61, paid tribute to his daughter during the vigil which took place at Cornerstone Park in Las Vegas at sunset – her favorite time of day.
Maris’ father Vernon Digiovanni, 61, paid tribute to his daughter during the vigil which took place at Cornerstone Park in Las Vegas at sunset – her favorite time of day
Her father said: ‘She touched people all over the world. Things happen. But we have been amazed as a thousand phone calls and emails poured in over the last couple of days from family and friends’
Yoni Barrios makes his initial court appearance at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas
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In the emotional address, he said: ‘She touched people all over the world. Things happen. But we have been amazed as a thousand phone calls and emails poured in over the last couple of days from family and friends.’
‘There have been tears but Maris would not have wanted us to sit here and cry. I’ve remembered things about her that made me laugh and I have cried.
‘I’ve been crying and I’ve been laughing. She wouldn’t want us to stop laughing. That shining light is still strong and we won’t let it dim.’
Barrios was facing a four-year jail term if he had been convicted in the 2018 case but the case was dismissed because the LA District Attorney’s Office took too long to prosecute it.
Lowthorp said: ‘I think there is no doubt that our criminal justice system is deeply flawed, and most certainly in the arena of domestic violence.
‘Beyond the obvious, that had he been convicted and or jailed we would not be in this situation… It is no surprise that we fail to protect our women inside of our legal system as well.’
She has also set up a GoFundMe to cover Maris’ funeral costs and pay for the other girl’s medical care. At the time of writing, the page has raised more than $36,000.
Lowthorp wrote on the fundraiser page: ‘Our showgirl family has been wounded beyond reason, the beautiful soul of Maris Digiovanni has been stolen.
‘Three other of our girls wounded and hospitalized, but thankfully their lives spared.’
The suspect told detectives he was from Guatemala and wanted ICE to take him home
A second GoFundMe has been set up by close friend Ariel Bongard who was sharing her Las Vegas home with Maris and Cole at the time of her death.
In a Facebook statement made the day after Maris was killed, Bongard, 29, wrote: ‘Maris was stolen from us in a senseless act of violence.
‘She and Cole are two of my best friends and it has been an extremely difficult two days.’
Barrios, who lives in Los Angeles, said he launched the stabbing attack to ‘let the anger out’ after a friend reneged on their offer to let him stay with them.
The suspect also told detectives he was from Guatemala and wanted ICE to take him home, according to a report released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Maris’ colleague Westby, who was stabbed in the back during the attack, described the moment Barrios murdered her friend, telling the New York Post: ‘He pulled up a knife and he showed it to us as if modeling it.
‘Before we could say anything at all. He grabbed the knife and he stabbed Maris in the heart.’
Westby said she didn’t notice she too had been stabbed as she tried to save Maris. She said: ‘And another guy said, ‘Ma’am, you have a stab wound on your back.’ I said, ‘I know.’ Can you grab your shirt and apply it to my back while I apply this to her?’
He then slashed Cayetano as the women attempted to flee but Maris collapsed before they could escape.
Westby said: ‘Maris made it only about 15 feet before she collapsed. And he came after me and stabbed me in the back, and he ran off.’
