Alicia Cardenas: Tattoo artist killed in Denver shooting was 'badass and powerful'
DENVER, COLORADO: Alicia Cardenas, a tattoo artist, was one among the six people who died in a deadly shooting spree that took place in Denver on Monday, December 27. Cardenas was shot and killed near Broadway outside Sol Tribe, the shop that she opened with manager Kevin Strawbridge in Denver's Capital Hill.
Narrating the incident, Alicia's father, Alfredo Cardenas, told CBS4: "If the person walked in and started hassling the help, she would have been right up front". "She'd have been right there, I'm sure that's what happened."
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Alfredo said his daughter created several murals around Denver apart from being the owner of a tattoo shop. "She affected a huge, huge segment of the Denver community," he said. "She will be greatly missed."
According to the Sol Tribe website:
"Alicia Cardenas is a true Denver Native - a proud Indigenous artist born and raised in the city who’s been working in the Denver body modification industry for nearly her entire life. She began working and apprenticing at Bound By Design in 1994 at the age of 16 and began piercing there professionally a year later. In 1997, she opened her first shop, Twisted Sol - Denver’s first custom tattoo and professional body piercing studio. She began her journey as a tattooer in addition to her already extensive knowledge of body modification in 2008, and in 2009, after twelve glorious years at Twisted Sol’s Cap Hill location, she and longtime shop manager Kevin Strawbridge moved down to Broadway to open Sol Tribe."
"I can't believe she's (Cardenas) gone," Sara King told FOX31. "Knowing how it happened in her own business it's - there's no words." King said she first met Cardenas in 2016 when she went to Sol Tribe to get her first tattoo and soon, the two became friends.
"I'm so greatful I got tattooed by her and she'll always be with me. She always has been. But now it's way more meaningful," King said.
Brenda Vargas, 22, who went to Alicia Cardenas's tattoo shop to get her arm and shoulder inked, said "Anyone who knows Alicia knows that she has a strong character," Vargas added, "She's intimidating but in the best way when you meet her you just know that she's a badass and that she's powerful."
Carley Carter got her septum and nose pierced at Sol Tribe once she turned 18. Even before she got pierced, she used to stop by the tattoo shop at least once or twice a month to look at the jewelry and photos of tattoos. "I don't even know why I was there so often," recalled Carter. "It was such a clear safe space to be in for someone who felt a little bit different."
Isadora Bielsky was looking for a place for her 9-year-old daughter to get her ears pierced and her search for the best piercing place in Denver led to Cardenas shop. "I just cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience," Bielsky said. She added, "I can't believe there's another child without a mother."
Alicia Cardenas leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter.