DENVER — Isabella Thallas was Gabrielle Diecidue's best friend growing up. The two went to Cherry Creek High School and became fast friends.
"She was really the good that this world desperately needs," Diecidue said.
On June 10, 2020, Thallas, 21, and her boyfriend, Darian Simon, were walking their dog outside an apartment complex at 3001 N. Fox Street when they were shot. Thallas was killed in the shooting, while Simon was injured but survived.
Michael Close was identified as the shooter. According to investigators, he used a firearm he took from a Denver police officer — a longtime friend of his — to shoot the couple.
Close was found guilty in September 2022 and sentenced to life in prison for Thallas' murder. He also received a 48-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of Simon.
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The shooting made national news and caused a great deal of pain for Thallas' friends and family.
"You remember the headline, 'Girl killed over dog poop.' It wasn't over dog poop," said Diecidue.
Even now, online search results will show headline after headline that focus on the cause of the shooting being an argument over the dog, including Denver7 headlines.
"This man did not become homicidal suddenly because he was seeing a dog given a command to 'go potty,'" Diecidue said. "We're fixating on a reason, but really there's no reason whatsoever to commit violence. We have to shift it to, what were the warning signs? How could we have prevented this?"
Preventing violence before it happens is what inspired Diecidue to seek out what is available to people who feel homicidal. She discovered the National Violence Prevention Hotline.
"I realized they're not 24/7. They're not up and running yet. They don't have the funding to do that," she said. "If this hotline had existed at the time, on a widespread mass scale, where it was well known, maybe this man that killed her could have called this hotline at the time and gotten the help he needs."
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Diecidue teamed up with the nonprofit and has since launched fundraisers and gathered a team of counselors and volunteers to make the hotline a reality. The hotline aims to give mental health support and resources, and in some cases, send emergency help if there's an imminent threat.
"Failing to provide support to homicidal people or those who are contemplating violence is failing to save innocent lives," said Diecidue.
The National Violence Prevention Hotline is expected to launch the first week of June at 888-664-6652. It will run on limited hours because they do not have enough funding yet to be 24/7.
"We're hoping to have a voicemail of some type when we're not there so that people know that help is still there, there's resources available to them. Please, please hang on," she said.
Diecidue said the nonprofit is in desperate need of donors to keep the hotline running long term. You can donate through this link.
Diecidue also recently launched a new app called Givspire, which showcases several nonprofits and how people can support them. The National Violence Prevention Hotline does have its own Givspire profile where people can learn more and donate. The Givspire app can be found in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
