1,200 Mourn for 4 Slain Members of Family

More than 1,200 mourners joined dozens of distraught and grieving family members Sunday night at a packed memorial service for a father and three children who were stabbed to death in their Pico Rivera home in a brutal slaying that has shaken the community.

Parishioners streamed into St. Hilary Catholic Church two hours before the 7:30 service and kept arriving after all the pews were filled. Many were left standing inside or waiting outside the open doors, breaking into tears as they described their struggles to come to grips with the attack on the Flores family.

Cecilia Gallegos, 14, a friend of Sylvia Flores, one of the victims, was sobbing outside the Pico Rivera church. “They would never harm nobody,” she said. “[The family] were always there for people when they needed something.”

Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives continued their investigation Sunday into the stabbings early Friday morning of Richard Flores, 42; and his children Richard, 17; Sylvia, 13; and Matthew, 10. Flores’ wife survived the rampage but remains hospitalized with stab wounds, and three other daughters were unhurt.

Sheriff’s detectives have not released a composite sketch, but deputies have said that Sylvia Flores, the mother, described the attacker as a cleanshaven Latino man in his 20s, wearing a white tank top, blue shorts and a blue bandanna.

At the crowded Mass, the church became so hot that parishioners served ice water. Tears and sweat mingled on mourners’ faces as they sang the soothing words of “You Are Mine,” a hymn: “Do not be afraid/I am with you.”

Younger children in the congregation, who had known the Flores children, wept openly as Father Joshua Lee led them in prayer.

“He is with us as we walk into the valley of the shadow of death,” Lee said. “He is with us in front of our enemies and he leads us to peace.”

Denise Ibarra, 14, her eyes filled with tears, had walked to the church with two other friends of Sylvia’s, and stood with the crowd outside.

“I just look at the pictures and remember all the good times we shared,” she sighed.

Cecilia Gallegos said she missed her friend.

“She was beautiful on the inside and outside,” she said. “I will always remember her as a basketball star.”

More than 75 members of the Floreses’ extended family attended the Mass. Many sat on metal folding chairs in the aisles, silent and distraught.

In a few weeks, they would have celebrated Sylvia’s 14th birthday. They had planned a party with an inflatable jumper, and a trip to a game with the Los Angeles Sparks, the women’s basketball team.

Sylvia had dreamed of being a WNBA basketball player, and played in three local leagues.

People came and paid their respects before the service at the Floreses’ Pico Rivera home Sunday, adding mementos to more than 150 candles and pictures of the Flores family and their friends. There was a picture of Matthew with his Little League team, named after the Florida Marlins.

Eva Villareal, 79, from Phoenix, feels haunted by the tragedy. Her daughter, Gloria Martinez, works at El Rancho High School, which the older Flores children attended.

“Oh my God--how can anybody do such a thing?” she asked, leaning against a tree outside the Flores home that bears a cross placed as a tribute to the family.

A sign outside the home read: “We the Flores family thank all our friends and the community for your prayers and support.”

Police were called to the Flores home early Friday morning after one of the daughters awoke, heard loud noises and was told by her mother to call 911. The phone was off the hook and she ran to a neighbor and called for help shortly after 3 a.m. A bloody knife was found outside the back door of the home.

Sheriff’s deputies have said they do not have a suspect or a motive for the attack. But detectives worked all weekend on the case.

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Times staff writer Beth Shuster contributed to this story.