Over 200 people turned out to say their goodbyes to a young boy that authorities believe was deliberately drowned.
The body of seven-year-old Omar Jajoy was concealed in a white coffin draped by red roses as he was taken into the church Saturday morning.
Omar’s mother, Sarmiento, has been charged with first degree murder after emergency crews responded to the family’s home on Tuesday.
The service was led by Reverend Augusto Garcia at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.
Family friend’s said Omar’s uncle delivered the Eulogy.
“Mainly he thanked the community for the support and solidarity with the family and also he described a little bit of Omar,” Max Caraventes explained.
Caraventes said the service was very touching.
“It’s a tragedy for our community and a tragedy for their whole family as well.”
A spokesperson for the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton said the Latino community has rallied around the family.
“As a parent myself I can’t think of anything more heartbreaking then to lose a child and to lose a child in this way,” Lorraine Turchansky said.
“My heart and my prayers went out to that family.”
Sarmiento has been sent to Alberta Hospital to undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine if she is fit to stand trial.
Turchansky said that Omar’s father has forgiven his wife.
“He doesn’t feel that it’s really her that is guilty of a crime in anyway. It’s an illness and he still loves her very much.”
“It’s very hard to see Florentino, the father of Omar, going through what he is going through,” Caraventes said.
Christian Munoz, who also attended the service, said family spoke of Omar as a joy because there were many complications and doctors said the boy may not survive.
“He beat all the odds. He walked, he talked,” Munoz said, adding the boy excelled expectations by learning to speak in both English and Spanish.
Many of the children who attended the funeral carried white balloons, which they released at the cemetery; something Turchansky said was a tradition.
“The family at the end addressed all of those in attendance,” Munoz explained adding it was an emotional service with “lots of weeping”.
“And they said their goodbyes to Omar.”
With files from Jeff Harrington
