Mom, daughters recalled
Mourners gather for a vigil in memory of Nichol Leila Olsen, 37, and daughters Alexa Denise Montez, 16, and London Sophia Bribiescas, 10, who were found dead in an Anaqua Springs Ranch home.
At least 300 mourners packed the Grotto Sanctuary at Oblate Missions on Wednesday night to honor and share memories of a mother and two children found shot to death in a home near Leon Springs last week.
Friends and family recalled hairstylist Nichol Leila Olsen, 37, as a loving mother, hard worker, selfsufficient businesswoman and strong woman quick to encourage others.
They also described Olsen’s two daughters, Alexa Denise Montez, 16, and London Sophia Bribiescas, 10, as spirited, joyous children.
Olsen and her daughters were found fatally shot at a residence in the gated Anaqua Springs Ranch luxury homes community the morning of Jan. 10.
The man they lived with and who owns the property found their bodies when he returned to the house in the 11300 block of Anaqua Springs that morning. That man was romantically involved with Olsen, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar has said.
Olsen and Montez, a Clark High School cheerleader, each died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Details of the younger child’s death haven’t been released since she hadn’t been positively identified as of Wednesday.
Bexar County medical examiner’s officials ruled Olsen’s death a suicide and the two children’s deaths homicides. The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate how the shootings occurred. Many mourners who spoke publicly during the vigil or agreed to be interviewed by the San Antonio Express-News before the event categorically rejected the medical examiner’s finding that Olsen committed suicide. They also said Olsen wouldn’t harm her daughters.
“There’s no way that Nichol could have done this to these girls,” said Carlos Montez Jr., Alexa’s father and Olsen’s former husband. “She loved them too much. She had so much joy in her life and so many things going for her. There is absolutely no way that we believe she is responsible for everything that happened.
“I never questioned her as a mother,” said Montez, 40, of College Station, whose marriage to Olsen ended in 2006. “I never doubted her choices that she’s made for Alexa. I knew that my daughter was taken care of with Nichol.”
Olsen’s friend, Nicole Baptiste, 35, who organized the vigil, echoed those remarks.
“Nichol did not do this,” Baptiste said. “We need to all, as a community, help her family fight for justice.”
A hush fell over the crowd members as they each lit candles in tribute to Olsen and her daughters. As flames flickered throughout the grotto, mourners sat quietly for a moment of silence.
Heather Cerwin spoke by phone with Olsen and London about 4:30 p.m. the day before they died and said nothing seemed amiss. They spoke of their excitement about the child’s upcoming singing audition for the NBC TV show “America’s Got Talent.”
“When I spoke with them Wednesday, they were excited, they were happy and they were ready for life,” Cerwin, 38, recalled tearfully.
“She was the hardest worker I know and wanted to provide the best and most comfortable life for her family,” said Susan Khalil, 36, a friend of Olsen’s for 17 years.