Elizabeth Tornabene had been many issues – a gifted tattoo artist, a loving daughter, a fearless free spirit and one of the best of mates – however kinfolk say she really relished the brand new function she lately took as a parental determine for her 15-year-old sister, Hattie.
Tornabene, 31, final 12 months started caring full-time for Hattie, with whom she shared a mom, and threw herself into advocating for her little sister, enrolling her into college and offering a loving surroundings, based on Tornabene’s father, Rocky, 58.
“It was actually the second my daughter began ‘adulting,’” he mentioned.
A 23-year-old man unleashed an incredibly violent and grisly assault Sunday afternoon, hacking his girlfriend to loss of life and wounding his personal teen…
Elizabeth Tornabene appeared blissfully glad, settled, when she gathered with kinfolk in Las Vegas two weekends in the past for a household wedding ceremony, her father mentioned. She had a job she beloved, a pleasant new residence in LaPlace the place she envisioned caring for Hattie and a boyfriend who handled her higher than anybody she’d ever dated earlier than, she advised her father.
“For the primary time in my life, I wasn’t involved about my daughter,” Rocky Tornabene mentioned. “My youngster was glad, and as a mum or dad, that’s the dream. You need your child to develop up and be glad.”
That joyful chapter in Elizabeth Tornabene’s life is what household and mates are clinging to within the wake of the horrific deaths Sunday of Hattie and Elizabeth, allegedly by the hands of Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Oscar Urias, 23.
Elizabeth Tornabene, proper, 31, and her sister, Hattie, 15, take pleasure in crawfish in an undated {photograph}.
Urias is accused of arming himself with a machete-like knife and killing Elizabeth Tornabene and Hattie throughout a crazed and bloody assault at their Fairway Drive residence in LaPlace. Urias can also be accused of wounding his personal siblings, ages 15 and 17, once they tried to intervene, authorities mentioned.
The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Workplace arrested Urias and booked him with two counts of first-degree homicide and two counts of tried first-degree homicide. Urias was transferred Tuesday to a state corrections facility, however the Sheriff’s Workplace didn’t say the place he’d been despatched.
Rocky Tornabene, who lives out of state, had by no means met his daughter’s boyfriend in particular person. However Elizabeth Tornabene beloved Urias and had described him as a sort and candy man.
“He both conned her, or he was a very nice one that simply had this psychological breakdown,” Rocky Tornabene mentioned.
Beloved artist
Tornabene flew from Colorado to the New Orleans space on Monday after receiving phrase of his daughter’s loss of life.
“We’re nonetheless attempting to course of it. It’s actually overwhelming,” he mentioned.
A 3rd-generation New Orleanian, Rocky Tornabene raised Elizabeth and his youngest daughter, Nicole Tornabene-Martin, on the north shore whereas he labored as a sound engineer for Dr. John, The Neville Brothers and The Radiators.
Elizabeth Tornabene attended Slidell Excessive Faculty and took half within the gifted arts program, excelling in each medium, based on her father.
Rocky Tornabene, left, poses for a photograph together with his daughter, Elizabeth.
“You could possibly put something in entrance of her, and she or he’d flip it into a fantastic murals,” mentioned her finest good friend, Carrie Fortenberry, 32.
However Elizabeth Tornabene declared her life’s calling at age 6 when she grabbed a ballpoint ben and commenced drawing on her closely tattooed father’s stomach.
“She mentioned, ‘I’m going to be a tattoo artist, daddy,’” Rocky Tornabene fondly recalled.
And she or he did simply that. Elizabeth Tornabene grew as much as turn out to be a well-regarded artist, plying her craft at a number of native tattoo retailers in and across the New Orleans space, household and mates mentioned.
She was working at Electrical Expressions Tattoos & Piercings in Kenner on the time of her loss of life. She had begun bringing Hattie to work to get her began as an apprentice, with the aim of educating her little sister tattooing, Rocky Tornabene mentioned.
A submit printed Monday on Electrical Expressions’ Fb web page learn, “Relaxation in Peace Liz & Hattie, my candy women. The love you gave freely to everyone seems to be everlasting and has impacted extra folks than you’ll ever know.”
Elizabeth Tornabene, proper, 31, makes enjoyable faces along with her little sister, Hattie, 15, in undated pictures.
Although they didn’t go into element, kinfolk and mates mentioned Elizbeth Tornabene took custody of Hattie final 12 months to provide her a extra secure surroundings and entry to higher colleges.
Fortenberry described her good friend as a kind-hearted, real and adventurous soul who beloved to journey and prepare dinner. Hattie, like her sister, was vigorous.
“She had probably the most beautiful eyes and a fantastic smile,” Fortenberry mentioned of Hattie. “She was simply goofy and fun-loving. All people beloved her.”
No purple flags
Elizabeth Tornabene met Urias at a heavy metallic present in Metairie, based on Fortenberry. The couple had been courting for about eight months, and she or he adored him, family and friends mentioned.
Tornabene advised her father Urias was a candy and loving man who handled her properly and held open doorways for her. Since her loss of life, her mates shared comparable opinions along with her father, calling Urias respectful and soft-spoken.
“There weren’t any purple flags,” mentioned Rocky Tornabene, who added that Elizabeth had all the time been a superb decide of character. “There needed to be one thing good about this child. My daughter wouldn’t simply go and stay with any person that was not regular.”
Fortenberry observed that Elizabeth Tornabene’s demeanor modified after she started courting Urias. Her anxieties appeared to melt, she appeared to take a seat again and loosen up extra, Fortenberry mentioned.
“He actually did consolation her and assist her,” Fortenberry mentioned. “I simply thought he was a superb man for her. I by no means would have thought he would do something to harm her.”
However Urias’ Fb pages present a fascination with disturbing imagery. They’re full of gory and violent drawings and footage, together with skulls, Satanic symbols and demons. In a single photograph, Urias is sporting a red-colored satan masks, maybe the one authorities say he was sporting through the killings.
In one other image, Urias holds a big knife as he stands shirtless with an upside-down cross round his neck, a drawing of what appears like a demon on a skeletal horse and a belt of bullets wound his waist.
Rocky Tornabene mentioned he’s been advised about Urias’ uncommon social media posts. However he mentioned he suspects the pictures are linked to the hard-core heavy metallic music that Urias – and Rocky Tornabene, himself – loved, moderately than an indication of illness or a violent nature. Fortenberry mentioned it’s possible the pictures are extra a stereotype or part.
“I’m not defending this child in any respect,” Rocky Tornabene mentioned. “My emotion of hate hasn’t come round but. I’m nonetheless attempting to course of the horror. I don’t have a spot to hate.”
