Christina Grimmie was an American singer who covered hit songs on her YouTube channel along with her original music. While signing autographs after one of her concerts, she was shot dead by Kevin James Loibl at The Plaza Live. There are reports of him being obsessed with Christina however the true reason is to date unknown as he shot himself right after he killed Christina.
1. Christina Grimmie
Grimmie was born and brought up in New Jersey. She was a Christian and followed the Fellowship Alliance Chapel (in New Jersey) prior to transferring to Los Angeles. Her mother was a three-time breast cancer survivor and was her main motivation for her musical profession.
Being an animal activist, Christina took part in several events to raise funds for the Humane Society of the United States. After the death of the singer, Christina Grimmie Animal Medical Fund was initiated in her tribute and she also earned the ‘Impact Award’ for her animal rights activism.
At the age of 15, she started her YouTube channel where she covered famous songs like “Don’t Wanna Be Torn” by Hannah Montana. Her cover of “Just a Dream” by Nelly garnered millions of views. In 2011, Christina bagged the second position in the MyYouTube competition. Selena Marie Gomez won the competition.
The same year, Christina performed at the UNICEF Charity concert. She also played a backup vocal for Selena Gomez & the scene. At the time of the Concert of Hope, she also opened for them and other American pop-rock bands like the Jonas Brothers and Allstar Weekend With Find Me, she made her EP debut.
Christina made appearances and performed on shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and award shows like American Music Awards 2011 (pre-show) and at the Coca-Cola Red Carpet show. She also performed her sensational song Advice on So Random!, an American sketch comedy series on Disney Channel.
Philadelphia Inquirer reported that after joining Selena Gomez, Christina Grimmie moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to follow her singing career. In 2014, Grimmie auditioned for The Voice season 6. She sang “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus in the blind auditions and went to Adam Levine‘s team.
Levine showed interest in signing her to 222 records, his record label. She ended up in the third spot and Josh Kaufman won the show. Post The Voice, the singer began amassing a lot of fans and gripping online spectators with her powerful renditions of hit and original songs.
After The Voice, Grimmie along with other contestants of The Voice and a few contestants of previous seasons went on The Voice Summer tour. Her new single Must Be Love was taped at ZAC Recording (Atlanta). The song produced by Elof Loelv was launched on July 31, 2014. Grimmie produced a video for the song “What A Girl Is” in collaboration with Dove Cameron in 2015. The original music was also released on Grimmie’s and Disney’s YouTube channels.
Christina Grimmie teamed with Diamond Eyes to launch her next single ‘Stay With Me’. On the iTunes Electronic Charts, it jumped to number 5. Shrug is her 3rd single made public in 2015. Later that year she recorded the charity single “Love Song to the Earth” which focused on boosting climate change awareness. The next year, Christina Grimmie announced her second EP named Side A consisting of four songs.
2. Christina Grimmie Performs for the Last Time
Grimmie was at The Plaza Live in Orlando (Florida) performing “Before You Exit” on 10th June 2016. Before the concert, in the morning, she took to social media, encouraging fans to attend her concert. Her concert ended at 10:00 p.m. (local time) and Grimmie was giving autographs inside the venue.
As Christina signed autographs for fans at a merchandise table in The Plaza Live, she was shot. Kevin James Loibl, a 27-year-old guy, killed her by shooting her in the head and the chest. Singer’s brother, Marcus Grimmie immediately dived into Kevin. They struggled but Kevin released himself and shot himself too.
Grimmie was brought to the Orlando Regional Medical Centre and she was declared dead. The autopsy report says he died of gunshot injuries to the head and chest. The singer was buried at Berlin Cemetery on June 16. Thousands of fans assembled at her public memorial in New Jersey.
3. Investigation and Tributes
According to the Orlando police department Kevin lived in St. Petersburg (Florida) and traveled to Orlando to attend the concert. Two handguns, ammunition, and a knife were recovered from his body. Kevin acquired the guns legally. John Mina, Orlando Police Chief, at a news conference said that Kevin and the rising star did not know each other personally.
Kevin had no criminal record but he had a history of violence. According to the police investigations he underwent eye surgery, weight loss, teeth whitening, and got hair implants to make himself more handsome. He had a harmful passion for the singer.
Kevin’s family revealed that he lived like a hermit and that they were unaware of his plans to journey to Orlando or that he had a gun. They also had no idea about Christina Grimmie or that Kevin was obsessed with her. His family says that he wrapped his bedroom windows with aluminum foil and heavy curtains because he disliked light and that he preferred to live in his room only. He would only leave to go to Best Buy where he worked part-time with his best friend Cory Dennington.
Cory Dennington told the police that he was aware of his friend’s obsession with the singer but did recognize the extent of it. His friend revealed that Kevin would spend most of his working hours monitoring videos of Christina on YouTube or would observe her on social media. Kevin was an atheist but Christina’s Christianity made him change his heart. He felt that if there was a God he had seen it in her.
According to his friend Kevin believed he could have a relationship with the singer and that they were soulmates. But his friend never heard of him or had no idea of him having a gun or that he would harm anyone. A few of his co-workers also informed the police that they knew about his obsession with Grimmie but failed to recognize its extent.
Following Grimmie’s death, several celebrities and artists responded on social media. The Voice paid tribute through its official Twitter page saying that they lost a lovely soul with an excellent voice. Her coach from The Voice, Adam Levine posted on social media on Friday night (10th June) while she was in the hospital saying that everyone is praying hard that she can pull through this.
Charlie Puth, Justin Bieber. Sabrina Carpenter and several other artists paid tribute and dedicated performances to the singer.
4. Marcus Grimmie
Marcus Grimmie is the elder brother of Christina and worked as Grimmie’s road manager during her concerts. He tackled Kevin when he started gun firing. For this, Wanda Miglio (from Orlando Police Department) called him a hero as he prevented any more loss of life.
To date, he posts videos of his sister in her memory. Together with his family, Marcus started The Christina Grimmie Foundation which helps families affected by gun violence. He is also an active advocate for those suffering from breast cancer because of his mother.
5. Conclusion
In her short life, Christina Grimmie earned millions of fans and their love. Her songs continue to be on our playlist. While it is believed that his obsession caused Kevin to kill her, the definite motive is not known as he killed himself immediately after killing the singer.
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