Before Kylee Monteiro became a name people saw in the news, she was our sister, our niece, our aunt, our granddaughter, our friend—and a daughter whose family loved her deeply.
Kylee was born on November 4, 2006. Her father called her “Fat Baby” when she was little. Her father died while she was still a baby.
When Kylee was 13, her mother died four days before Christmas. Her aunt and uncle took Kylee and her sister Hailey into their home. Kylee was suddenly navigating a new chapter of life, but she kept growing into the loud, funny, outgoing person her family knew and loved.
Kylee was loud, outgoing, funny, goofy, stubborn, silly, and completely herself.
She loved makeup, rock music, South Park, helping people, her friends, sleepovers with her sisters, and making people laugh. She could make ordinary moments feel like memories. She loved her niece Eliana, who called her “TT.” She was the baby sister of the family and held a place in the lives of the people around her that cannot be replaced.
During the summer before her senior year, Kylee participated in a welding program. It was there that the name “Smilee Kylee” became part of her story.
The name captured something unmistakable about her—her smile, her energy, and the personality that filled a room.
Kylee graduated high school in 2025 and became Prom Queen. She had dreams, plans, and a future she was just beginning to build.
Kylee had a passion for welding and dreamed of becoming a welder. These photographs show her actually exploring that interest and getting hands-on experience.
Kylee was excited about becoming a mother and had already begun imagining the future she wanted for her baby.
She talked about her baby, thought about names, and held onto the Elmo blanket she had been wrapped in as a little girl. She imagined one day wrapping her own baby in it.
She was a daughter, a niece, a granddaughter, an aunt, a friend, a soon-to-be mother, and someone with a future that should have been hers.
She deserved a lifetime.
We cannot give Kylee back the lifetime she deserved. But we can make sure her life continues to mean something.