Las Vegas shooting victim: Denise Cohen, Carpinteria, California
A California woman who loved traveling and country music is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
Denise Cohen, a 58-year-old Carpinteria resident, attended the concert with 56-year-old Derrick “Bo” Taylor, her boyfriend. Both were killed Sunday in the attack that killed 58 and wounded more than 520.
Cohen was a huge country music fan and loved attending concerts, her sister-in-law Kelli Gentile said Wednesday. She had been excitedly posting updates on social media about the event.
“She loved concerts, period. She loved music, but I know she was thrilled beyond to be able to see Jason Aldean,” Gentile said.
Cohen spent much of her time traveling the West Coast, Gentile said. She lived for a time in Oregon, with one of her two sons, but also lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Santa Barbara. There, she was an active member in her church, Gentile said.
“We joke that Denise loved to travel light and live life to the largest. She just did everything with a smile and a gusto and just went for it,” Cohen said.
A selfie of Cohen shows her dressed up for the event, complete with a cowboy hat and American flag apparal. But for Gentile, the best part of the photo isn’t in Cohen’s clothing.
“The sheer happiness on her face, that was her,” she said.
Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.
