Dozens of still grieving local, Bronx family members and survivors of crime and street violence gathered in early December in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, together with members of the Crime Victims Assistance Bureau (CVAU) and with Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, for the annual “Tree of Angels,” tree-lighting remembrance ceremony, held in memory and in tribute to the families’ loved ones who were the tragic victims of street violence.

 

Canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the somber and poignant tree-lighting and tree-decorating event was held on Saturday, Dec. 4, and began in Bronx Community Board 12’s usual meeting venue that also houses the satellite office of CVAU, and  is located at 4101 White Plains Road in Wakefield. Several speakers offered prepared remarks before the crowd stepped outside into an adjacent courtyard where the tree-decorating and tree-lighting event was held.

Referring to the work involved in bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to justice, during her prepared remarks, Clark told those gathered, “You know that my office never gives up. Obviously, there was an example of that this year when we were able to solve the cold case from 22 years ago.” At that point, the crowd, some of whom were unable to fit into the venue for the first part of the event, burst into applause.

 

Clark was referring to the November 29th arrest of Joseph Martinez, 49, for the 1999 murder of Minerliz Soriano, 13, as reported by Norwood News. Clark continued, “I’ve talked to some of you that still haven’t had answers; don’t worry. We’re going to keep trying.”

 

According to Steven Rivera, 46, the “Tree of Angels” event was the brainchild of his father, Freddy Guzman, following the October 1990 murder of Freddy Guzman’s then 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and the subsequent 1992 conviction of her killer, Alejandro Henriquez. The latter was also known as The Bronx Serial Killer and was also convicted of the murders of 14-year-old Shamira Bello and 21-year-old Lisa Ann Rodriguez. Currently serving a 75-year to life prison sentence, Henriquez continues to maintain his innocence.

Meanwhile, at the Wakefield event, Steven Rivera recounted the story of how the first of the annual tree-lighting events, held in December 1993, came about, telling the Norwood News, “My dad saw that everybody was still miserable during the holidays and he lit a tree, and invited the families over.” Steven Rivera also explained how his mother, Milagros Guzman, had, at that point, formed the group, Justice for Children, with the other grieving families who had also lost loved ones at the hands of Henriquez.

 

Reminiscing on that first 1993 tree-lighting ceremony, Steven Rivera described a tree decoration his father had created for the occasion. “He had a teardrop with an angel inside, and he took a gold marker and wrote ‘Jessica’ on it,” he said, adding that the other families continued to meet each year at the Guzman home in Soundview until 2009 when Milagros Guzman moved to Florida. Then, in 2010, the event began to be held at the CVAU office, also used by Bronx Community Board 12, and the tradition has continued annually ever since.

In the courtyard, one by one, the various family members said the names of their lost loved ones aloud before hanging ornaments on the tree in remembrance of them. Julian Oden, Jessica Guzman, Joseph Luna, Darin Capehart, Jaryan Elliot, and Luis Gonzalez were just some of the names of those honored. Jaryan, as reported, was just 13 years old when he was fatally shot in Belmont in July 2021.

 

During the ornament hanging section of the ceremony, sadly, one woman was seen hanging one ornament on the tree for her son, murdered in 2018, and another for her daughter, murdered in February 2021. She was not the only one, tragically, to place ornaments on the tree for two different family members.

The family of Lameek Akins, 19, who was fatally shot in February 2013, also attended the gathering. A family member, who declined to be identified, said, “We’ve just begun with justice, as we speak,” and added that the next court date for the suspected gunman in the shooting was Dec. 14. Asked why it had taken so long for the suspect to be tried, the family member replied, “They caught him at first, but they had to let him go, and [then] they got him back because they had a witness saying that he went in the house [location relevant to the shooting] and he did this, and he did that.”

 

Leandra Feliz, mother of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, who was brutally murdered by a gang on June 20, 2018, said, after placing her son’s ornament on the tree, “We’re all going through the same pain, and we miss our family and we would like to make a wish right now… that these criminals have to stop.” She continued, “We have to stop crime, and the killing of innocent people.” Feliz said she believed 25 years [in prison] was a slap on the wrist for taking the life of another person, but added that she does not believe in the death penalty.

 

A local Belmont street was later re-named in memory of Lesandro.

Awilda Vega also attended the event in honor of her son, Leon, who was murdered on Oct. 23. Vega recalled, “He was lured into a building to be robbed and he was shot in his left leg and was left to die in a hallway.” She added that Leon bled to death inside a building at Soundview Houses. The grieving mother said the NYPD captured the gunman, but others involved in the case have not yet been charged.

 

Asked about the significance of the annual tree-lighting ceremony, Vega replied, “It’s bittersweet, because it gives me comfort that I have people that support me and that I’m not alone, but at the same time it’s sad to see so many parents and family members suffering due to gun violence.”

 

Ali Acevedo-Hernandez, a family member of slain Bronx EMT, Yadira Arroyo, said, “Every year we come here, and this is a way for us to remember Yadira, and to be with other people that are going through the same agony and the same pain that we are.” Acevedo-Hernandez added, “It’s a reminder that we are not alone. We have so many people here who are going through the same things as we are, so it gives us some solace, and we are also starting the Christmas, and we always start with Yadira first, just to remember our loved ones that are gone, but they’re still very much here in our hearts.”

 

Arroyo, 44, was killed in March of 2017 when a man struck her with her own ambulance after he attempted to steal it. As reported, a street was also later re-named in Arroyo’s memory.

 

*Sile Moloney contributed to this story.