Las Vegas Shooting: Cedar City Day Care Operator And Mom Of 3 Slain

CEDAR CITY, UTAH — An in-home day care center operator and mother of three from Cedar City, Utah was among 59 people slain during a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday night.

Heather Warino Alvarado drove for three hours from her southern Utah home to Las Vegas for a weekend getaway and to take her daughter to a country music festival. Alvarado's daughter wasn't hurt when a hail of bullets rained down on a crowd of about 22,000 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, but Warino Alvarado, 35, was killed.

Las Vegas police confirmed her death to friends and family Monday night from, according to a news release Tuesday from the Cedar City Fire Department, where her husband was a firefighter.

Warino Alvarado was also a devoted wife who was always willing to help others, said longtime friend Megan Jackson Gadd. (For more information on the mass shooting victims and other Across Utah stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

"She has made huge impacts on those around her with even the smallest gestures," Jackson Gadd said in a Facebook messenger conversation. "A person like her will never be replaced or forgotten and will be missed dearly every day for the rest of our lives."

Photo credit: Facebook via AP