By Tori Richards
(Continued)
From El Salvador to the U.S.
Maria came to California from El Salvador in the 1980s, while she was still a teen-ager. Her mother had been living in Los Angeles, and, like many others who had lived in a Third World country, Maria wanted a chance to become an American citizen.
She learned English and began working at a series of fast food restaurants and retail chain stores. She met Irving in 1994 at a Hollywood nightclub and the two dated for five years before getting married. They started a video store business in El Monte, a suburb of Los Angeles.
"She was friendly, outgoing and kind," Irving said. "If you needed help, she would always go out of her way to help you. If someone ever needed help translating, she would always volunteer."
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| Maria Bruno |
Loving fashion, movie stars and trendy clothes, Maria decided take a shot at modeling in 1996, while still single and going by her maiden name of Lopez. She got a portfolio of pictures together, printed off a stack of 8x10s as her calling card and began going out on job interviews. "She got a number of calls," Irving said. "She was always complaining that she wanted to be a couple of inches taller because she was too short for runway modeling. But she could do print modeling and appeared in several magazines."
But then as she gave birth to her children, the dream took a back seat as family life took up the majority of her time. But she still was wistful. "She definitely liked clothes, she would go to the mall and shop for hours," Irving recalled. "She loved soap operas."
As the years wore on, Maria began to feel closed in by her marriage. She wanted to go out dancing, to be with friends. She and Irving decided to separate, and Maria found an apartment in a security building near her store. "Before she moved out, I was really concerned for her safety, and I asked her if there was security where she was moving to," Irving said. "I didn't want her to move in by herself. She said it was safe."
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