Inconsolable sobbing echoed through St. Francis of Assisi Church Saturday during the funeral service for 16-year-old Angie Monroy, who was killed in a Little Village drive-by shooting earlier this month.
Hundreds of family, friends and other community members lined up at the church to pay respects to Monroy, who was a junior at Juarez Academy High School. Most stopped at the casket to say a prayer before filling the rows of pews and a standing area in back.
Monroy’s friends and classmates wore white T-shirts printed with a photo of the teenage girl. The shirts were organized by the her fellow cheerleading team members, said her friend Pedro Catalan, who pinned a pink ribbon to his shirt because it was her favorite color.
“Angie left a big impact in the school,” Catalan said. “She brought so much positivity and would stop to cheer everyone up. We’re all deeply going to miss her.”
People bowed their heads and held back tears during a music-filled Spanish-language service that included prayers calling for peace and an end to gun violence in Chicago.
Monroy was hit by a stray bullet Dec. 14 while walking home from her job at a clothing store. She died the next day.
Chicago police said she wasn’t the intended target. Detectives have located a pickup truck they think was used in the drive-by, but there still was no one in custody a week after the attack.
Dafne Hernandez, a junior at Juarez and one of Monroy’s best friends, said she’s been having trouble processing Monroy’s death, but “the emptiness” started to sink in during the service.
Hernandez said she met Monroy in seventh grade, and they’d been friends for five years since. A smile beamed across Hernandez’s face as she recounted going to a school dance with Monroy.
“Everybody was in a huge circle and dancing, but we were outside of that, doing our own thing, laughing and dancing,” Hernandez said. “She’d always reminded me of that because it was such a fun day.”
Melissa Catalan said Monroy was the first friend she made after transferring to Juarez last year.
“She looked out for everyone at the school like that,” Catalan said. “She was outgoing and supportive with everybody. She had the most beautiful soul.”
Juarez teacher Daniel Michmerhuizen said the school hasn’t been the same since her death.
“When we came back that Monday, it was just colder,” he said. “Angie was such an uplifting part of our school community.”
Michmerhuizen, who coached Monroy when she played basketball as a freshman, called her “one of the most amazingly kind, caring and considerate people” he’s met, a person who illuminated the school’s hallways with her “light and joy.”
“Everywhere she went, she brought joy and happiness, and when she left, she left smiles,” Michmerhuizen said.
“She went out of her way to make everybody smile, laugh and know they were cared for. That’s who was stolen from us.”