LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Family and friends gathered at Craig Ranch Park in North Las Vegas to remember Tabatha Tozzi.
The 26-year-old died one year ago after her boyfriend turned a gun on her, killing her.
Channel 13's Alyssa Bethencourt sat down with Tozzi's mother one-on-one to talk about her daughter's death and her path to healing one year later.
One year after her death, police are still searching for Tabatha Tozzi's killer.
While her mother's grief is profound and endless, she said she won't stop until she's brought her daughter's ex-boyfriend to justice.
Regina Lacerda remembers her daughter Tabatha Tozzi through an altar at the entrance of her Las Vegas home, shining a light on who she was and who she wanted to be.
"When she passed, a lot of people say the light of Las Vegas turned off," she said.
Lacerda remembers that day like it was yesterday.
She called me screaming. Kind of crying, screaming and saying, 'mom, can you please come get me?'"
Tozzi was with her then-boyfriend Oswaldo Perez Sanchez.
Minutes after that conversation, he'd shoot her in the head outside of a house in northwest Las Vegas.
"I said to the police, I said that's not Tabby right? That's not her? That cannot be... I was on the phone with her. I was on the phone with her like a minute ago. How could that be her? And he said yes. That's your daughter," Lacerda remembered. "If I get there, I will jump in front of him to save my daughter. And that's what kills me, that I couldn't make it there on time to save her.
Lacerda said her daughter was trying to break off the relationship and believes Perez-Sanchez was not happy about it.
His behavior had raised red flags to Lacerda in the past, like when he tattooed Tozzi's face on his body before they had started dating.
"I thought that was so creepy," she said.
Now Lacerda is facing her next personal struggle as the search for her daughter's killer continues.
Perez-Sanchez hasn't been seen since the day of the shooting.
"It makes me wonder how can someone disappear like that. It's crazy. I don't understand that," she said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI have joined forces, offering a $30,000 reward for information that could lead to his arrest.
WATCH: Friends and family unite to call for justice six months after Tozzi's death
Lacerda has found power in her grief, praying for clarity and an arrest while remembering her daughter and the light she was to those around her.
"I don't think I'll have closure in my life if I don't get justice for my daughter," she said.
"If you have any information about the whereabouts of Oswaldo Perez-Sanchez, please call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
