Mourners turn out en masse to bid farewell to loved ones
By RYAN HYATT AND CORTNEY FIELDING Daily Press Staff Writers
MID-CITY — Family and friends joined hands Monday to mourn the passing of two young Santa Monica men slain at a birthday party last month.
Hector Bonilla, 25, and Jonathan Hernandez, 19, were buried Monday afternoon at Holy Cross Mortuary in Culver City after a funeral service at St. Anne’s Catholic Church at 2017 Colorado Ave. in Santa Monica. More than 500 mourners were on hand to celebrate the lives and reflect on the losses of Hernandez and Bonilla, according to Father Mike Gut-ierrez, who spoke at the service.
“We are here today to let our tears be our prayer,” Gutierrez said. “We are here today because we haven’t forgotten how to love.”
Bonilla and Hernandez were both shot dead on Feb. 26 during a birthday party at the Moose Lodge, a Sunset Park venue often rented out for celebrations. Witnesses said Hernandez, known to friends as “Boo-Boo,” was involved in a physical altercation with two or three men near the front entrance to the lodge. Hernandez reportedly broke free from the men, who shot him as many as 14 times in the torso and head, according to witnesses. Bonilla, often referred to as “Limpy,” was reportedly shot as he attempted to intervene.
The gunmen, who fled, have yet to be apprehended by police.
Many mourners at the Catholic service arrived dressed in black, some wearing sunglasses. Bonilla’s long-time girlfriend, Krizna Ayala, and her three young children wore Oakland Raiders T-shirts and jackets in honor of Bonilla, who was known as an avid fan of the football team. More than 20 young mourners wore custom-made shirts displaying smiling pictures of Bonilla and Hernandez.
Upon entering the church on Monday, attendees were handed cards on which words of peace were scribed. Enlarged photos rested on easels, showing Bonilla and Ayala with their children, and Hernandez with his three half-siblings at his high school graduation last spring. Inside, large candles burned close to the silver coffins placed in the center of the high-vaulted church.
Family and friends packed into the pews to say their good-byes. Besides occasional outbursts from young children, the mourners sat and grieved mostly in silence.
Around 300 friends, family and community members continued on to the burial service at Holy Cross Cemetery. Soft gospel music played in the background as mourners surrounded the pair of caskets — covered with red and white roses — creating a circle around the grieving families.
Mourners hugged each other and wept as the caskets were lowered into the ground.
The sound of gunshots in the background broke the silence of the burial ceremony. While the rifle shots were part of a military funeral service taking place elsewhere in the cemetery, they served as a chilling reminder of Hernandez and Bonilla’s last day.
Father Gutierrez spoke of the Biblical commandment that human beings must love one another, without revenge or evil thoughts, citing as examples Hernandez and Bonilla’s friendship.
“Why do tears come with faith?” Gutierrez said to the mourners.
“They come from the depth, where God is really at.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 15, 2005. Read the original PDF.