Family, friend recall Modesto homicide victim as hard worker, loving mother to 3 girls
Natasha Irizarry will be remembered by friends and relatives as the powerhouse of the family. She was the sole provider to her three young daughters, ages 13, 14, 16, her mother and her grandmother.
Irizarry, 34, of Ceres was shot to death on South Ninth Street early the morning of July 8 outside a room at the Driftwood Inn.
To help earn money, her family said, Irizarry was working three jobs: a filler operator with SunOpta, a paid caretaker for her diabetic and amputee mother and her 88-year-old grandmother with dementia, and a driver for Uber.
According to her aunt, Davida Fair, Irizarry was the first woman to become a filler operator at SunOpta, a maker of organic, plant-based foods and beverages. She was promoted to a level-two operator, was licensed by the state of California and was extremely proud of her accomplishments, Fair said.
“She did all of this to make sure that she could support her family,” Fair said. “She just loved her girls, she loved her life now.”
Despite holding three jobs, Irizarry’s family said she knew how to enjoy life and cherish the pleasures it brought her. She could be found watching her daughters’ softball games or dance shows, white-water rafting with her girls, taking in the beautiful outdoors or spending time with her friends.
“She was spending quality time with and supporting her three daughters, and they were enamored by her,” Fair said. “They just loved her to death because she loved them. And she did everything she possibly could do for them.”
Growing up, Irizarry had a rough time. Her childhood was filled with rejections and constant hardships, but her family said she used adolescence to grow strong and rise up to the challenges life posed. She matured into a very intelligent woman, Fair reminisced.
“Natasha was a character. She had a mouth on her — very defiant, wouldn’t take anything from anybody,” Fair said. “Anybody that she loves, she would defend to her last breath. There’s no one like her in our family. Nobody.”
Friends recalled Irizarry loving every minute she spent at her favorite place: cheering on her daughters at the softball field.
“That’s where I’ve seen her the most is at the softball field,” Sierra De Leon, softball coach to one of the girls, said. “She’s definitely their biggest fan. Seeing her out there with the girls, you could tell that that was her happy place.”
De Leon set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for Irizarry’s funeral service and to make sure the girls are taken care of.
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Juan Carlos Martinez, 31, of Modesto on suspicion of homicide, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime. They continue to look for Luis Vega, 36, of Modesto as an alleged accomplice.
Anyone with information about Vega’s whereabouts or tips about the homicide is asked to call Detective Juan Rodriguez at 209-558-1282 or Stanislaus County Area Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636.
This story was originally published July 16, 2023 at 10:27 AM.