Borderline shooting: Family finds comfort in hearing stories about their daughter

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Thursday, November 7, 2019
Borderline shooting: Family remembers daughter Kristina Morisette
Martha and Michael Morisette lost their daughter Kristina in the Borderline shooting one year ago. They've found solace and comfort among family and friends.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- "We miss her every day," Martha Morisette, Kristina's mother said.

Martha and Michael Morisette's 20-year-old daughter, Kristina, was working at the Borderline Bar and Grill the night of the shooting.

Throughout their Simi Valley home, there are pictures and paintings of Kristina. Whether it's in the living room, family room or the wall along the stairs, their youngest daughter's smiling face is always present.

"We're doing well. It's new, it's a different place in life," said Michael Morisette, Kristina's father.

"We're just doing, it's just one day at a time. Some days are good some days are bad," Martha said.

Michael said the night of the shooting is still surreal. Kristina's grandmother called the house after seeing it on the news - one of Kristina's friends came over-banging on their door, wanting to know about Kristina because she wasn't answering her phone.

"All we thought was we're going to get her and we're going to bring her home. And that didn't happen," Martha said.

Throughout the night the Morisettes held out hope.

RELATED: Borderline shooting victim's mother still gets messages from her daughter

It's been a year of physical and spiritual healing for Wendy Sparks, whose daughter Noel was killed last year in a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill.

Martha and Michael thought Kristina was helping friends who were hurt and that she probably lost her phone during the chaos.

They thought, once they found her "She would come yelling at us 'Dad, Mom, you know I have to help my friends and I would get back to you, you know nothing would happen.' And that's what we kept thinking," Martha said.

Sadly, that didn't happen. Kristina, a young woman whose future plans included studying how to train dogs for first responders, was one of the 12 killed that night.

"The grieving process was a learning process. To not fight it and to just naturally go through whatever phase was the phase of the day. It comes and goes in different phases. She's still my daughter," Michael said.

"Someone said now you have two kids and I said no I have three. I always will have three," Martha said.

It's been a year filled with grief and sorrow - but also moments of joy when they think and talk about Kristina.

"Now we have 11 other families that we're connected with at the hip. And hundreds of other people we call friends and it's really encouraging to hear good stories - to hear good things about your kid," Michael said.

Borderline shooting timeline: How the tragedy unfolded