Marquez-McCool was 49 years old, a native of Brooklyn, New
York, residing in Orlando. She was dancing with her son, Isaiah Henderson at
Pulse nightclub when she was killed. Instead of running
away, she threw herself
on her son, shielding him from shooter Omar Mateen. She saved her son's life
but lost her own.
At her funeral at the First United Methodist Church of
Orlando today, Henderson, 21, broke down as he paid heartfelt tribute to his
mother, almost unable to stand while he spoke.
"I never thought that her life would be ended right in
front of my eyes," he said, sobbing. "My mother accepted everyone
with open arms. She loved everybody equally, no matter what." His brothers rushed to the pulpit to hold him up and console
him. "I haven't stopped crying since," Henderson said.
Henderson said he and his mother used to wrestle and
"play fight," adding that his mother always won. “I obviously lost.
She’s a linebacker!” he joked. His family roared with laughter. Many of Marquez-McCool's 11 children spoke. Her brother
Michael Santos was the only one of her siblings to offer words of remembrance,
and he struggled at times to get through them.
"I have nothing to say to you because my heart is on
fire. I have no words," said Santos. He spoke fondly of their Puerto Rican
heritage and said that his sister was quite the dancer, the life of the party.
He looked toward heaven and asked her to "tell Jesus to step up the salsa
game."
Robert Pressley Jr., another of Marquez-McCool's sons,
joined his friends near the altar and sang a tribute to his mother, at times
pulling the microphone away from his mouth and holding down his head as he
struggled to finish the song through tears.
At the end of Marquez-McCool's funeral, her family members
walked outside in front of the church's rotunda and released 150 white balloons
in her honor. They held one another and retreated to a private room reserved
for immediate family.
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