Community vigil Friday for Lake in the Hills family killed in murder-suicide
Family, friends and community members are planning a candlelight vigil Friday for the Lake in the Hills family killed in a murder-suicide last week.
They will gather at 5 p.m. behind Marlowe Middle School, 9625 Haligus Road, Lake in the Hills, to honor the memory of 27-year-old Carla M. Lopez-Mejia, her son, Ezequiel Garcia, 11, and daughter, Ariana Garcia, 8.
Lopez-Mejia strangled her two children before she hanged herself Jan. 10 in their home on Daybreak Drive, according to authorities.
Ezequiel was a sixth-grader at Marlowe, and Ariana was a third-grader at Martin Elementary School. They are survived by their father, Luis Garcia, two uncles, two grandmothers and a grandfather. Lopez-Mejia is survived by her husband, mother and brother.
Their families will be at the service, which will include the Marlowe Middle School choir singing "See You Again" by Carrie Underwood, and messages from local clergy.
Dave Rudin, head pastor of Lifeline Christian Church of Algonquin, will deliver a message, and comfort pastors from Willow Creek Community Church of Huntley will offer solace.
"We just want to show them that the community cares about what happened and that we are here to help in any way we can," said Amy Novalinski of Huntley, whose daughter, Bella, 9, is a fourth-grader at Martin Elementary.
A GoFundMe page created last Thursday has collected more than $31,000 donated by more than 600 people within a week to fund the family's funeral expenses and related costs. The page was started by Adam Garcia, Luis Garcia's brother.
Novalinski said the community is reeling from the impact of this tragedy and hopes the vigil will be cathartic.
"I'm a stay-at-home mom with two young children, a boy and a girl ... and my heart just broke completely when hearing that this happened," she said. "I just couldn't imagine what the family was going through with all of this. It's just unfathomable to me. We need to come together as a community to support each other and to help with the healing process."
Roughly 700 people attended a funeral Mass for the family Wednesday at St. Mary Catholic Church of Huntley, which they occasionally attended, said the Rev. Max Striedl, who gave the homily and will deliver the opening and closing prayers at the vigil.
Striedl said the message of his homily was for family members to remain hopeful.
"We are not only entrusting the deceased to the Lord, but we are also asking for the strength, comfort and consolation for the family," he said. "The community has really been wonderful about that. They have surrounded the family with a lot of love and support. It's just as important now that the funeral Mass is over that people continue to do that. They are all going to need support for some time."