Mourners Fill Church for Funeral of 4 Slain Flores Family Members

At the end, there were few words to convey how the deaths of four members of one well-loved family touched the hearts of a community.

So the mourners spoke with their presence, more than 1,200 filling the pews and aisles of Pico Rivera’s St. Hilary Catholic Church on Saturday to share their grief and spend a last few moments in the company of a father and three of his children who were stabbed to death in their home.

As the blue coffin of Richard Angel Flores, 42, and the white caskets of his son Richard Jr., 17, daughter Sylvia, 13, and son Matthew, 10, were ushered past the congregation, many of them wept. The coffins sat closed, stretching nearly the width of the sanctuary, draped in white carnations and red roses.

Photos of the sports-loving family stood beside the caskets and filled the funeral program: Richard Sr., who coached youth baseball and basketball teams, in a cap and uniform with his sons. A smiling portrait of Richard Jr., the young image of his father who would have been a senior at El Rancho High School. Sylvia, who was on three summer league basketball teams, going up for a shot. And a church picture of young Matthew, standing with his hands clasped as if in prayer.

In his eulogy, Father Joshua Peter Lee remarked on the tragic circumstances surrounding the deaths. Sixteen-year-old Monica Diaz, the adopted daughter of Richard and Sylvia, and her 17-year-old high school boyfriend, Michael Naranjo, have been arrested in the slayings.

Sheriff’s officials have provided no motives for the killings, but friends of the two teenagers say they chafed at Richard and Sylvia’s strict rules. They say that both planned the slayings and that Diaz left the back door of the house open for her boyfriend. Investigators say they found a bloody knife outside the back door of the home.

“We know now how darkness can spring up in the most unexpected of places and in the most unexpected of ways,” the priest said.

Many of the Floreses’ extended family, including two 18-year-old surviving daughters, Esperanza Flores and Laura Reta, who was adopted, attended the Mass. Sylvia Flores, the 39-year-old mother who was wounded in the attack and is recovering, attended a Friday night vigil but not the funeral Mass.

Her presence was felt, however. With words of thanks she used earlier in the week at a community memorial service, she wrote a note in the funeral program.

“Even in this tragedy that has occurred in our family, I will continue to be an active member of this community,” she said. “I will always care deeply for this community because of the love and support we have continued to receive.”

The July 21 killings shook the foundation of Pico Rivera, a middle class suburb southeast of downtown Los Angeles where residents are inclined to summer night strolls around the block, Saturday afternoon movies at the local mall and rooting for their El Rancho High School sports teams.

In this small community, the Floreses were fixtures and, as one resident put it, if you knew one of the family, you knew them all. And so the mourners came from near and far to pay their respects.

Many of the young people at the funeral wore T-shirts that memorialized the slain family members, all of whom were prominent in youth activities. On one T-shirt were the names of Richard Sr., Richard Jr., “Lil” Sylvia and Matthew under the imprint of a blue basketball filled with the image of an ascending angel.

Addressing the family, Father Lee spoke of the impact that the loss of their loved ones had had on the community, quoting the apostle Paul: “When one suffers, all suffer and we have suffered and suffer with you.”

But he also sought to reassure mourners that not only darkness was at work.

“The question we ask at a time like this is not where was God, because we know where God is. We’ve seen him in the tremendous outpouring of love and support,” he said.

That theme of community support resonated with others.

“We will continue to intercede with this family, continue to lift them up in prayer,” the Rev. Richard Ochoa, pastor of Pico Rivera’s Lord’s Vineyard Church, told mourners. “I perceive that our prayers have given the family the ability to stand up to this dread.”

After the funeral, a procession that included more than 400 vehicles proceeded to Resurrection Cemetery in Montebello for the burial. After a brief service, mourners who had stood in a blazing sun laid flowers on the caskets and embraced Flores relatives.

One young boy with tears in his eyes placed a white carnation on the coffin of Matthew as his father comforted him. “He’s at rest now, son,” the father said.

Since the deaths, friends, acquaintances and many who did not know the family have rallied around, holding bake sales, carwashes and other events to raise money. An anti-crime rally Tuesday, the annual National Night Out Against Crime, turned into a memorial for the Flores family in Pico Rivera, drawing hundreds to ceremonies at City Hall.

Sylvia Flores--released from the hospital that day--appeared and elicited tears and applause when she thanked the community, churches, schools, businesses and neighborhood for their support.

After the graveside services Saturday, Pico Rivera City Councilman Gregory Salcido said he was asked why so many people attended and expressed such deep emotions. He said he believes that the community is giving so much because the Flores family gave so much.

Since the earlier memorial, several mothers have come together to say they must have a greater presence in the community, just like the Flores family, whether it be through block parties, parent-teacher organizations or other activities, he said.

“If we can bottle this support and turn it into something positive, then some good may have come out of this tragedy,” Salcido said.