'She was just magnetic': Family mourns Ottawa woman killed in Dominican club collapse

Natalia Goodwin · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

A young woman who spent years successful Ottawa is 1 of the victims of the recent nightclub extortion collapse in the Dominican Republic. 

The Jet Set nine successful the superior of Santo Domingo was packed for a show April 8 when the extortion caved in.

The origin of the illness is inactive nether investigation, but the hunt for bodies has been completed and 221 radical were killed.

One of those who died was 24-year-old Sheila Berroa, a Dominican national who had been surviving successful Ottawa since 2018, erstwhile she moved to join family.

She yet studied concern astatine Algonquin College and was recently managing a Planet Fitness location.

"She was precise overmuch progressive successful her assemblage backmost successful Ottawa, particularly astatine her section religion done volunteering with the children, and greatly contributed to her friends and family," said her member Franclin Berroa successful a connection to CBC News.

He added that she was a loving aunt and that her nonaccomplishment is tragic.

"We are each greatly shocked [by] her loss, and these effects volition beryllium with america each for the remainder of our lives. She was lovely, kind, a hard idiosyncratic — each assemblage and idiosyncratic she got progressive with loved Sheila." 

She didn't privation to return, says semipermanent boyfriend

Berroa was trying to widen her enactment licence to beryllium capable to enactment successful Ottawa, but was denied aboriginal this twelvemonth and had to instrumentality to the Dominican Republic.

"[She was] a young idiosyncratic that had a agleam beingness ahead. She was fundamentally forced to determination retired of Canada virtually 1 period earlier this tragedy," her member said.

The accent of her having to permission led to the extremity of her four-year narration with Saul Mendoza.

They had mislaid interaction erstwhile she moved backmost to the Dominican Republic successful March. The time aft the collapse, helium said helium got the telephone from her member that she had died.

He was inactive successful daze erstwhile helium spoke to CBC Thursday portion connected his mode to be her ceremonial successful the Dominican. 

"She had her full beingness up of her; she had truthful galore hopes and dreams that she shared with me. She wanted her family, she wanted to beryllium a mother, she wanted truthful galore things for her beingness and her beingness was chopped short, and it's hard to judge that; very hard to accept," Mendoza said.

He said helium is grateful for the clip helium spent with Berroa and volition clasp connected to memories of their travels and however she taught him to dance. 

"She was conscionable magnetic," Mendoza said

"I conscionable fell successful emotion with who she was, the mode that she loved connected different people, the mode she cared and looked aft different people, the mode she, you know, focused connected bully things like bully values, coming from a bully heart."

The ceremonial work volition beryllium held connected Saturday.