After the mass shooting in Las Vegas, 87 children are coping with the loss of a parent. Of the 58 people killed at the Route 91 Harvest festival, 33 were parents. The youngest child to lose a parent was just six weeks old when his mom, Rocio Guillen-Rocha, was killed. Losing a parent in such a public and traumatic way can send a child into a tailspin, UNLV clinical psychologist Michelle Paul says.
Just six weeks ago, Rocio Guillen Rocha gave birth to her fourth child — a baby boy named Austin. Guillen Rocha was still on maternity leave from her job as an assistant manager at a California Pizza Kitchen. Although she escaped the scene with fiancé, Chris Jaksha, Guillen Rocha later died from a gunshot wound suffered in the attack. The 40-year-old from Corona, California, had four children: 18-year-old Marcus, 13-year-old Christopher, 1-year-old Sofia and 1-month-old Austin. Guillen Rocha was raised in Anaheim and attended Katella High School, where she ran track and cross country.