A Proper Burial for Ernesto

A week after his tiny body was uncovered in a hurriedly scratched grave, 5-year-old Ernesto Barrera was properly laid to rest Tuesday at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, surrounded by his family and dozens of strangers who learned of his killing from news reports.

Earlier, his mother, Petra Barrera, wept uncontrollably during Mass at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Pacoima, where she was joined by more than 100 mourners.

“Mi hijo, mi hijo”--my son, my son--Petra cried, hunched over the small white coffin.

Ernesto, a dark-haired boy with small features, was dressed in a white suit. Heavy makeup concealed the bruises investigators say the boy received when he was allegedly beaten to death by his father.

“I did not know her, but I know she’s alone” in this country, Elyza Alvarado, 69, said of Petra, who attended the funeral with three of Ernesto’s siblings. “She needs people to comfort her.”

According to investigators, Ernesto Barrera was part of a complex family involving his father--Marco Barrera, 34, a street vendor--who had up to 13 children with Petra Barrera, 35, and her 28-year-old sister, Juana Barrera. The children range from 3 weeks to 16 years old.

Petra lived with some of the children in a rented room at a house in the 13500 block of Mineola Street in Arleta. Marco and Juana Barrera and most of the children lived about two miles away in a converted garage in the 13800 block of Desmond Street in Pacoima.

The children often went between the two homes. Ernesto, Juana’s nephew, was at the garage visiting two weekends ago when police say he was beaten to death. No motive has been offered.

Investigators said Marco Barrera visited Petra on Sunday morning and told her Ernesto had died accidentally, possibly of a heart attack. He said he would make funeral arrangements but did not return.

Sunday night, Marco Barrera allegedly loaded the body into a car--bringing Juana Barrera and three of Ernesto’s siblings--and went to bury it along Lopez Canyon Road, about two miles north of the Foothill Freeway in Angeles National Forest, where the family dug an 18-inch-deep grave amid tall brush.

Sheriff’s deputies patrolling the area noticed the family’s parked car about 11 p.m. and as they inspected it, Marco Barrera emerged from the vegetation. He led them to the grave where the family was still gathered.

Scratching lightly at the freshly dug earth, the deputies discovered the child’s hand and took the family into custody.

Juana Barrera was charged as an accessory to murder. But investigators believe the children at the grave thought their little brother had died of natural causes and they had to bury him surreptitiously, fearing that the law would not allow them as illegal aliens to hold a proper funeral.

Twelve children--including six of Petra’s--are in the custody of county social workers. Petra has been granted visitation rights pending a hearing in April, said Schuyler Sprowles, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Family Services.

Tuesday’s Mass was attended by Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who made arrangements for the funeral and burial by obtaining funds from the Mary Immaculate Parish and a Los Angeles funeral home.

Petra, in a long black dress, sat in the front pew in front of the coffin. Behind her, three of Ernesto’s siblings--two small boys and a girl--sat quietly. They appeared puzzled at times as they looked at the others in the church.

“This is a moment full of sadness,” Father Thomas Rush told the crowd. “We can think of all that Ernesto could have been. At the same time, we have to face what is.” The pallbearers were volunteers from the church.

“You feel impotent in the sense of not being able to offer [the family] something more,” Rush said after the Mass.

He said Petra is also burdened by the murder charges against her mate and her sister and the loss of custody of the other children.

“She’s just an overwhelmed person,” Rush said. “So many things weighing on her.”

Said Leon Garrett, an area resident who attended the Mass: “A little boy brutally killed . . . somehow I just felt like being here would be comfort to the family.”

Petra’s weeping did not cease at the cemetery, where Ernesto was about to be buried in a plot donated by Cardinal Roger Mahony.

The day was sunny, with a light breeze. There were flowers and tears. The priest said final prayers.

“Hijo de mi corazon,” Petra called as the casket was lowered. “Mi prietito.”

Son of my heart. My little dark one.