Just three days after 20-year-old Krystle Dikes was gunned down while working at Martin’s Supermarket in Elkhart, Ind., her family stood together to celebrate her life.
“It took us a while to be ready for this,” said her father Shaun Dikes.
“There is a void in our hearts and minds that will remain forever,” said her step-mother Charlotte Dikes.
Family members remembered Krystle Dikes as a singer, dancer, artist, photographer, cook and creative girl with big dreams, one of which was to open a facility for special needs children.
“She was a force,” said her mother Juanita Whitacre. “There was no one like her and there never will be. I always told her she was a Krystal Dykes original.”
Krystle Dikes had just moved back to Elkhart from Munsey and had started work stocking shelves at Martin’s.
Police said the suspected gunman, 22-year-old Shawn Walter Bair, came into Martin’s Wednesday night and browsed the store before opening fire, killing Dikes and 44-year-old Rachelle Godfread, a customer at the store.
Bair was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers from the Elkhart Police Department just after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
“I would like to personally commend the Elkhart city police officers,” Shaun Dikes said. “They courageously risked their lives so more families don’t have to feel our pain... tears.”
Local
At Indiana University South Bend Saturday afternoon, a moment of silence was held for Godfread.
It was an emotional moment, especially for her son Joe, a sophomore at the university.
