‘Look at me!’ Dad confronts man accused of killing his daughter at ‘Forever Purge’ film
Dave Goodrich, father of a teenage girl slain Monday in a shooting while watching “The Forever Purge” at a California movie theater, spoke out Friday at a court hearing for her accused killer.
“Hey, look at me, bro!” Goodrich shouted as Joseph Jimenez, 20, left the courtroom, The Press-Enterprise reported. “Look at me! Look at me, dude!”
“That was my daughter,” Goodrich told Jimenez before collapsing in tears, KTTV reported. Jimenez looked down at the floor as deputies escorted him from the courtroom.
TikTok star Anthony Barajas, 19, who was shot with Rylee Goodrich, 18, as they watched the film at a Corona movie theater, died Friday of his injuries, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Jimenez, who was arrested Tuesday, faces charges including murder with enhancements of personal use of a firearm causing death and lying in wait, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said.
Jimenez, who could face the death penalty, did not enter a plea Friday and his arraignment was postponed, The Press-Enterprise reported.
Rylee Goodrich and Barajas had gone together to a 9:45 p.m. showing of “The Forever Purge” at a theater in The Crossings, McClatchy News reported. Employees discovered the wounded teens when they entered to clean the theater after the film ended at 11:45 p.m.
Rylee Goodrich, who was home on summer break from Grand Canyon University in Arizona, died in the shooting.
“Everywhere you went, she lit up the room with her smile,” Alex Apatiga, a former high school classmate, said at a vigil, KABC reported. “She was always nice to everybody.”
Barajas, whose TikTok channel has more than 980,000 subscribers and whose Instagram account has more than 56,000 followers, had been on life support.
“I want to thank everyone who lifted Anthony in prayer,” Malik Earnest, a friend of Barajas, said on Twitter. “The injuries to his brain were irreparable. July 30th at 11 p.m., Anthony was wheeled down an ‘honor walk’ where he would ultimately donate his organs so others may live.”
Friends at the vigil said the two had recently started dating, KABC reported.
Dave Goodrich called Barajas “a boy her dad actually approved of,” KTTV reported.
Police described the attack as “unprovoked” and noted only six tickets had been sold to that showing, McClatchy News reported.
“The Forever Purge” is the fifth film in a terror franchise that began with “The Purge” in 2013, set in a world where all crimes are legal for 12 hours one night a year.
In the new film, according to its website, “members of an underground movement, no longer satisfied with one annual night of anarchy and murder, decide to overtake America through an unending campaign of mayhem and massacre.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 11:01 AM with the headline "‘Look at me!’ Dad confronts man accused of killing his daughter at ‘Forever Purge’ film."