GILBERT, AZ — Family members are remembering a 21-year-old woman shot and killed in Gilbert over the weekend. Randi Gatewood is the daughter of Randy Gatewood, a fan favorite who played for the Arizona Rattlers for more than a decade.
Gatewood described his daughter as magical, saying she had a special energy.
Randi --known as Nae-Nae or Randi Lee was only 21 years old, but Gatewood said she'll have a lasting impact on those who knew her.
"Everyone knew her as just this brilliant girl with this big smile and laugh and personality," he said.
Gatewood said she was always coming up with new goals and ideas. The most recent one was to start a coffee food truck. Gatewood owns Randizzle's, a popular food truck in the Valley.
"We were going to do a father/daughter type of combo where everywhere Randizzle's went, we'd take OG Drip, which was the name of her truck," said Gatewood.
Randi was a member of Young Life, a Christian youth ministry.
"Being a part of that really gave her an opportunity to share her faith and her spirituality and her relationship with God with all the other kids," said Gatewood.
According to Gilbert police on early Saturday morning, they responded to a shooting on East Boot Track Trail. Randi had been shot and later died at the hospital. Police say they found a 24-year-old man, Jordan Jones, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He's in the hospital in critical condition. No arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed.
Police said Randi and Jones were acquaintances.
Her father said her daughter's death was a tragic accident.
"She'll live on through us forever," he said. "She made me a better father, a better person. A better friend. Everything about life -- she made sure that everybody lived life to the fullest."
Her friends told ABC15 Randi saw the good in everyone and had a contagious laugh.
"Even from the time she was a little girl she just had this energy, she would run and laugh and joke," he said.
The family will have two services for Randi on Monday. It'll be at Central Christian Church in Gilbert at noon. There will be a service after at Gilbert Memorial Park.
