Slain woman lived a ‘quality’ life, friend says

Eron Ben-Yehuda

Even as she lay on her death bed, Bridgette Elizabeth Ballas showed she

cared for others, her friend said.

Grieving in a hospital’s intensive care unit, Joyce Rogers began to read

a book Ballas had given her, titled “Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good

People?”

Turning the pages, Rogers noticed a card had dropped out that read, “Even

though I’m not standing right beside you, I’m always with you.”

Ballas, 29 -- who was fatally injured by an unknown assailant in the

early morning of Nov. 27 -- was taken off life support soon after.

“All I could think of was she’s gone and she’s still sending me cards,”

said Rogers, her friend for 15 years.

So many were touched Ballas’ that 600 people gathered for her funeral

service Saturday in Yorba Linda, she said.

“She loved for people around her to be happy,” Rogers said. “I don’t know

why this happened.”

A neighbor on his way to work found Ballas lying by the curb in the 900

block of Huntington Street, officials said. She was last seen walking

back to her apartment after spending the night with friends Downtown,

police said.

The official cause of death was “blunt force trauma” to the head, police

said.

After canvassing the area and interviewing relatives, friends and

acquaintances, detectives still have no strong leads in the

investigation, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Chuck Thomas said.

Ballas enjoyed walking wherever and whenever she could, said Keith

Wichner, her apartment manager.

“That, unfortunately, was part of her undoing in all this,” he said.

Apparently, Ballas was walking alone when she was attacked.

Although friends and family had warned her about the danger, she didn’t

worry because of her strong religious faith, Wichner said.

“She told them, ‘Don’t worry, I walk with God,’ ” Wichner said.

She often attended early morning Mass at St. Mary’s By The Sea on 10th

Street, Rogers said. She kept a rosary by her bed along with a list of

people to pray for, Rogers said.

Although her life was cut short at a tender age, Rogers said Ballas lived

for every minute.

“The kid never slept,” she said.

In addition to working hard as an account executive for Calvin Klein, she

was studying for a master’s degree in business administration at Chapman

University, Rogers said.

Ballas also played hard, especially at tennis and snowboarding, she said.

And her radiant beauty made her very popular.

“The only thing that consoles me,” Rogers said, “is not the quantity of

her life but the quality.”