A priest urged mourners to seek comfort, not revenge, at a funeral Mass on Wednesday for three generations of a family shot to death during a robbery.
“Death is not the answer to death. It’s not going to bring these people back,” the Rev. Michael O’Mara told about 1,000 people who attended the funerals of Emma Valdez, her daughter, Flora Albarran, her son, Magno Albarran, and three children, ages 5 to 11.
The six and Alberto Covarrubias, 56, were shot in their east-side Indianapolis home on June 1. A funeral for Covarrubias was held Tuesday.
Two white caskets containing the bodies of Valdez, 46, and Flora Albarran, 22, were displayed at the downtown Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. A gold casket held the body of 29-year-old Magno Albarran. And silver coffins held the children — Flora Albarran’s 5-year-old son, Luis; and Valdez and Covarrubia’s young sons Alberto, 11, and David, 8.
Jay Recker, a funeral director with Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers in Indianapolis, said the bodies would be returned to Guerrero state in Mexico for burial. Covarrubias was buried in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Prosecutors planned to introduce formal charges later Wednesday against the two men arrested in the attack.
Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said he would seek the death penalty against Desmond Turner, 28, who surrendered Saturday. He was still considering whether to seek the execution of Turner’s co-defendant, James Stewart, 30, who was arrested the day before. Brizzi has said he does not believe anyone else was directly involved.
Turner and Stewart each face seven counts of murder, seven counts of felony murder, seven counts of criminal confinement, one count of robbery and one count of burglary.
“Three children were executed as they were lying face down on mattresses,” Brizzi said. “I can’t think of anything more horrific.”
Brizzi attended Wednesday’s service with police Deputy Chief Tim Foley, other police commanders and legislators from the area.
“My heart goes out to the family,” Brizzi said. “Nothing we can do from here on out can bring their lives back.”