‘I screamed for help': Showgirl attacked in Las Vegas stabbing recalls tragic moment friend died in her arms

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“I’m screaming, asking everyone for help,” Anna Westby recalled the scary moment when she and her friend were stabbed. “I went over to Maris and I turned her over. I told this guy to give me his shirt and I grabbed it from him and I started applying pressure to her wound," said Westby in the interaction. Further, she said, “And another guy said, ‘Ma’am, you have a stab wound on your back.’ I said, ‘I know. Can you grab your shirt and apply it to my back while I apply this to her?."

Further, she mentioned, “He pulled up a knife and he showed it to us as if modeling it; all four of us looked at each other and were trying to make a decision… This is too weird. Do we agree with this? Before we could say anything at all. He grabbed the knife and he stabbed Maris in the heart." "There was no -- not a single moment where he was provoked. Absolutely no, there was no making fun of anyone. It was a game for him. He had every intention of killing her and killing us," Westby said. She also added, "Knowing that someone could do something like this without ever being provoked. It makes me question everything," Westby concluded. 

“Maris made it only about 15 feet before she collapsed, and he came after me and stabbed me in the back, and he ran off," said Westby. Though Westby called up 911, she was alarmed by another man that she was also injured. Westby also spoke to 8newsnow, where she said, “I’m screaming, asking everyone for help. He caught up to me, and he stabbed me in the back and then he ran off.” Watch the video here.

Another showgirl who encountered the incident, Victoria Caytano said, "And I started yelling, ‘he has a knife!.'" Further, she said, “I just couldn’t believe that this was happening to me." Later, Cheryl Lowthorp, owner of ‘Best Showgirls in Vegas, said, “She was exceptional,” Lowthorp remembered DiGiovanni. “She was exceptional, on fire, beautiful, smart, and radiant.”

Meanwhile, 32-year-old Barrios was charged with two counts of murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder. He told detectives that he was a Guatemalan immigrant and that he stabbed eight people so he could "let the anger out," stated DailyMail.

A GoFundMe campaign was started by Lowthorp to meet the expenses of the showgirls' funeral, medical, professional help, and other financial recovery efforts. The campaign note stated, "I am Cheryl Lowthorp, owner of Best Showgirls In Vegas. It is with a heavy heart that I share that Our showgirl family has been wounded beyond reason; the beautiful soul of Maris Digiovanni has been stolen."

Further, it said, "Three other of our girls wounded and hospitalized, but thankfully their lives spared. This fund is being created with the purpose of providing our girls with the resources they need to recover. This will go towards the funeral, medical, professional help, and other financial recovery efforts."