More than 150 grieving relatives and friends gathered Thursday morning in memory of the pregnant Rockland County mom who died defending her kids from a driver who intentionally rammed into them outside a 7-Eleven.
An open-casket viewing for 32-year-old Melissa Castillo DeLoatch, followed by a funeral Mass, was held at St. Ann’s Church in Nyack. All six of her children were present: Layla Castillo, 10, Mason Castillo, 7, Benjamin Castillo, 5, Shawn DeLoatch, 3, Heaven DeLoatch, 2, and Unique DeLoatch, 11 months, the Journal News reported.
Three walked in with DeLoatch’s husband, Shawn, and three were accompanied by DeLoatch’s mom, Joan Christopher.
“She’s a hero. She’s my hero,” the grieving mom told the paper. “But it doesn’t take away any of the pain.”
Jason Mendez, 35, allegedly mowed down DeLoatch, Shawn and the kids the afternoon of Feb. 20, after Shawn asked him not to blow cigarette smoke near his children — some of whom have asthma. Then Mendez reversed and plowed into the family again, killing the mom — who was shielding little Unique in a stroller, authorities said.
“You think about your baby first,” mourner Valerie Britt said of DeLoatch as she walked into the church.
Mendez has been charged with second-degree murder as well as seven counts of attempted murder.
At the end of the nearly hour-long funeral, the mourners, many with their heads bowed, embraced and wiped each others’ tears.
But at one point, tempers also flared.
The kids were about to place flowers on their mom’s casket when their distraught dad cried, “No! I don’t want my children going near the casket.”
But DeLoatch’s stepdad, Richard Christopher, argued that the kids should be allowed, prompting a feud that ended with Orangetown police holding both men back — and no flowers on the casket.