Viktoriya Manasyan moved to the United States from Ukraine with her family 15 years ago. She was just 5 years old and beginning to mold to her new surroundings in this country. Her family became incredibly tight-knit as they navigated this new world together.
She was always happy, but sensed when her family needed help. She wanted to take care of them any way she could. As a kid, that meant bringing leftover apples or cookies from school. As an adult it meant supporting her family by joining the army and helping guide her mother, father and sister through all of the ups and downs of life.
“Sometimes she was my daughter, sometimes my sister, my friend, sometimes my mother,” said Viktoriya’s mother, Tatyana Lazarenko. “I lost my future, I don’t know what to do anymore.”
The 20-year-old Viktoriya was killed in North Philadelphia on April 21, 2018. The young woman who brightened the lives of many was shot while at a house party near Temple University’s campus.
Even as a child, Viktoriya worked hard and had big dreams for her life. At 12 years old, Viktoriya would take small jobs babysitting and dog walking. As she got older, she worked at restaurants.
“She needs to be the best in everything, in everything, especially in education,” Tatyana said. “She likes to be successful in school. She fought for her grades so hard.”
Her biggest dream in life was to become an FBI agent. She was studying criminal justice at Bucks County Community College. Viktoriya also enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and had completed her basic training.
Flowers Viktoriya sent her mother.
While the time away from her family was difficult for her, she sent her mother loving notes, flowers and more gifts to show her love from afar. Now that Viktoriya is gone, these gifts fill Tatyana’s home as reminders of her daughter’s love for her.
“She was just so happy that day that she made it through training,” said Kimmie Kravets, Viktoriya’s best friend. “Her whole family was there and her boyfriend.”
When Viktoriya wasn’t working, she was spending time with Kimmie.
“They were very close to each other,” Tatyana said. “She has Russian family, so Viktoriya fit very good in her family. They liked Viktoriya, she was always welcome in their house.”
One of Kimmie’s favorite memories of her best friend was seeing her drive around in a “little red Fiat,” which they took frequent trips in during their first two years of friendship. The little red Fiat took them on trips to the shore to go on boat rides and to some of the restaurants they frequented together.
“She was always eating,” Kimmie joked. “Anytime she texted me it was to get food.”
Viktoriya and Kimmie spent much of their time hanging out at Applebee’s. Viktoriya’s favorite order was the mild boneless chicken wings, paired with either spinach dip or mozzarella sticks. She also loved going to Kyoto Sushi to order her favorite meal: the calamari hibachi.
Viktoriya never had one hobby that she consistently loved. She was known to be obsessed with one thing for three months before deciding to pursue something else.
“One day she likes to go biking, and she’s going to buy all clothes for biking,” Tatyana said. “Then she’ll be going to buy stuff for soccer, after three months she’s going to decide that she likes horses.”
While Viktoriya never had a hobby she kept with for too long, she simply loved life and people. “She always wanted to introduce herself to people,” Kimmie expressed. “She was just never upset, she was always so happy, always wanting to help people.”
Her love for people also translated to animals. She filled her family’s home with pets: two dogs, two cats, bunnies, hamsters, rabbits, fish, crabs and more.
“Anything nobody wanted to adopt, she’d always say, ‘mom, please, just for a few days,’” Tatyana said. “She’d be like, ‘this hamster had only one eye and I needed to adopt it.’
Viktoriya is survived by her mother, father and younger sister, named Vlada.
Date: 2018-04-21
Location: 1800 W Diamond St, Philadelphia, PA
News coverage:
Viktoriya Manasyan, you will be missed by all of us here. Thank you for touching our lives. Thank you for your service. End of Watch April 21st.
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