'She was something special': local memorial planned for Brevard-born teen killed in Oregon
The last time Debi Peabody saw her granddaughter, Angela Pastorino, she spent the day helping her grandmother pull weeds in the yard. It was February, and the 18-year-old and her boyfriend, Alfredo Hernandez, also 18, had traveled from Oregon to Brevard where Pastorino grew up.
Peabody said she was excited to meet Hernandez, who was from Bend, Oregon — where Pastorino had lived for the past six years. The three of them went to Texas Roadhouse after a day spent cleaning up the yard. There, Peabody snapped the last pictures she would ever take of her granddaughter.
Pastorino and Hernandez were killed Aug. 16 in Bend, Oregon. While police did not release any records relating to their deaths, citing an active investigation, they confirmed the case was being investigated as homicides.
Local press reported that the bodies of the two teens were found Aug. 17 in a garage of a house where they had been doing work the previous day along with 41-year-old Wesley Abel Brady. The three were reportedly drinking that evening when Brady and Hernandez got into a fight.
Brady has been arrested and faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder.
Now, nearly a month later, Pastorino’s mother, Jennifer Grigg, has brought her daughter's ashes back to her hometown. While a memorial service was held in Oregon, they wanted something in Brevard where more family could attend, Grigg said.
The service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10th, in Cocoa at Christ Central Church.
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While Pastorino spent the past six years in Bend, she spent most of her early childhood in Brevard. Born in Cape Canaveral, she attended Challenger 7 Elementary School in Port St. John. Peabody recalled the many activities she was involved in as a young child, including Girl Scouts, softball, playing violin, attending concerts, participating in a renaissance play at school, riding horses, painting and more.
And she loved helping others. In 2015, she helped raise funds for BCSO Agent John “Casey” Smith, who had been shot during a sting operation.
"She helped her friend with the lemonade stand that was raising money for (Agent) Casey when he got shot," Peabody said. "And I know Wayne Ivey came out there and took pictures with her, and she was excited."
"That child always had a smile on her face and would give you the shirt off her back to help you," Grigg said. "Nothing could stop her or break her. She just was always smiling and just happy."
She also had a heart for animals, both her mother and grandma said.
Peabody recalled how Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library in Cocoa used a program where kids could read aloud to dogs and how she, Pastorino and other young family members learning to read enjoyed it.
"We used to go to the SPCA, and they would read to the dogs because Angela thought that was a good thing to want to do to help them learn how to read," she said.
"She loved animals — you couldn't walk past her with a dog without her yelling can she pet it," Grigg said.
Pastorino's own dog followed her everywhere, Grigg said, even on the night she was killed.
"He stayed outside the home (after they were killed) until somebody drove him home," she said. "He didn't leave her side."
Saturday's memorial service was a chance to "bring her home," Grigg said. But it doesn't ease the pain of her passing.
"I just want her back," she said. "She just — she was something special, man. It didn't matter how bad your day was. She could just walk in the room, no matter who you were she could just brighten your day up."
Peabody, who will speak at the memorial, echoed the sentiment.
"There's a huge hole in our hearts that's never going to be filled (because of) the loss of her," she said.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard memorial for Angela Pastorino, a local teen killed in Oregon
