What happened to Theresa Cachuela? GoFundMe raises over $38,000 as Hawaiian influencer gunned down in bank parking lot

Theresa Cachuela, a 33-year-old Hawaiian social media influencer, was reportedly shot in front of her daughter by her estranged husband in the parking lot of the Pearlridge Center on Friday, December 22. The daughter, who was reported to be around 6-8 years old by local media outlets, told the police that her dad shot her mom.

The husband, identified as Jason Cachuela, 44, who fled the scene in a gray Mazda, later shot himself in a tragic incident police are investigating as a murder-suicide.

According to local media outlets, the incident occurred two weeks after the mother of three, Theresa Cachuela, obtained a restraining order against her husband after he repeatedly threatened to kill himself in front of her.

The TRO cited by the Hawaii Tribune said that Cachuela obtained a protective order after her estranged husband took her alone to Waikiki and held a knife to his neck, threatening to kill himself. In the TRO, Theresa Cachuela added,

"The next morning he showed up to my house early in the morning to apologize. I tried to help him and talk to him but he kept threatening to kill himself again."

The couple were reportedly married for ten years before Theresa Cachuela obtained a TRO against her husband.

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Theresa Cachuela was trying to divorce her husband before she was killed

In the wake of the tragedy, Theresa Cachuela’s mom launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for her daughter’s funeral expenses. In the fundraising page, Lucita Ani-Nihoa said that her daughter was on her way to have breakfast with her on December 22 when she was gunned down by her estranged husband. She wrote:

“She was coming to have breakfast with me that morning because I wanted to give her and my grandkids their Christmas gifts. My daughter did not deserve this.”

In the fundraising page, which has raised over $38,000, Lucita added that her daughter was desperately trying to get help to protect herself and her kids from her seemingly unstable spouse.

“She was trying so hard to get help, but the Justice system failed her. We are so devastated by the loss of our beloved Tita. This has been so difficult for our family which we were not prepared for. We are asking our friends, family, and community if you could find it in your hearts to help us lay Tita down to rest.”

Lucita told Hawaii News Now her daughter was desperately trying to divorce her husband, who refused to let her go and would often stalk her everywhere she went,

"She wanted to leave him but he wasn't accepting it. He tried to control her with everything ... where she would go and what she would do."

Lucita added that the incident could have been prevented if authorities had played a more active role in protecting her daughter.

"He threatened to kill her. They never arrested him, knowing that he had guns, knowing that he tried to threaten, he threatened to kill the kids and her in her own garage. The court wasn't there for her," Ani-Nihoa said. "The system failed her - and now she's gone."

Meanwhile, the Hawaiian Tribune reported that when Jason was served with the TRO two weeks ago, authorities recovered his five registered firearms. It is unclear how the suspect obtained the weapon that was used to shoot his wife.