'She was literally dying in my arms': Woman killed in Las Vegas massacre moments before boyfriend planned to propose
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A music fan celebrating her 28th birthday was killed in the Las Vegas massacre just moments before her was about to propose.
Andrea Castilla was with her boyfriend, Derek Miller, her sister, Athena, and another friend, at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday, October 1.
Derek had been waiting for the right moment in the evening to pop the question when terror struck.
As shots rang out around the crowd, Andrea shouted 'duck' but it was too late, she had been hit in the left side of her head.
Speaking to ABC News , Athena said she immediately dropped to the ground to shield her sister from further gunfire.
"She was struggling to breathe and I just held her head. We were trying to find the wound... I've never seen so much blood in my entire life."
Athena remembers people starting to run all around them as her sister lay helpless on the ground.
The group eventually managed to construct a make-shift stretcher out of a concert barrier and carry Andrea to a nearby pick-up truck that was taking the injured to hospital.
Athena added: "We couldn't give up on her. She deserved a chance to get help. She was literally dying in my arms."
In a cruel twist of fate, the family were mistakenly told at the hospital that Andrea was still alive, only to discover several hours later that she had passed away.
After they were given the devastating news, Athena reassured Derek that Andrea would have said "yes" if he'd have had chance to ask her to marry him that night.
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(Image: Anadolu)
"I told him, she would have said 'yes' immediately."
Stephen Paddock killed 58 people as he shot victims at a nearby country music festival from his high-rise hotel suite.
The massacre left hundreds more injured as bullets fired by gunman Paddock rained down from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
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Police said they had no information about Paddock's motive, he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group.
Detectives say the 64-year-old gunman, from Nevada, killed himself before they stormed his hotel room.
Paddock is believed to have used a high-powered assault rifle to blast his victims at the end of a performance by country music star Aldean.