{"id":106106,"date":"2026-01-20T18:16:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/106106\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:16:28","slug":"hearts-to-heaven-staten-island-school-remembers-girl-6-who-died-in-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/106106\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearts to heaven: Staten Island school remembers girl, 6, who died in crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The memory of Anheli Vasquez\u2011Trinidad<\/a>, 6, will forever live on at the Father Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy in South Beach.<\/p>\n

Anheli was a first-grade student at the school, which honored her with the dedication of a statue of Our Lady of Altagracia on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

The young girl was killed on Jan. 2 in a devastating New Springville car crash that also took the life of Gerardo \u201cJerry\u201d Avila<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our Lady of Altagracia (Our Lady of High Grace) is the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is viewed as the patroness of the Dominican Republic. As explained by Rev. Michael Martine, pastor of Holy Rosary R.C. Church in South Beach, the Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia will be celebrated on Wednesday and Anheli\u2019s family is from the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we thought that it was significant and appropriate for us to dedicate a statue of Our Lady of Altagracia in her memory because she was such an important part of our school community,\u201d Father Martine told the Advance\/SILive.com.<\/p>\n

The love of the school and the heartbreak experienced by many was on full display during the bittersweet dedication ceremony Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\"AnheliA dedication for Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad was held on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at Father Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy. (Advance\/SILive.com|Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

The statue of the crowned Virgin Mary was situated before an assembly of over 300 students and staff who donned pink attire, Anheli\u2019s favorite color. Pink roses and a rosy candle flanked the statue; Anheli\u2019s face graced both.<\/p>\n

On the stage above the statue, a \u201cspiritual bouquet\u201d stood adorned with a multitude of paper flowers in memory of the girl, a gift from St. Clare\u2019s R.C. Church in Great Kills.<\/p>\n

Principal Debbie Cretella led the dedication ceremony alongside Father Martine. Students from pre-K through eighth grade sat in solemn remembrance as they listened to prayers and a reading from the Gospel.<\/p>\n

The school took a moment to sing \u201cImmaculate Mary\u201d in unison<\/p>\n

At one point, young students brought up hearts and symbolically laid them before the statue with touching notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo grateful for the time we had. You\u2019ll never be forgotten,\u201d one heart read.<\/p>\n

Josephine Prestovino told the Advance\/SILive.com that in the wake of Anheli\u2019s death, her granddaughter, a first-grade student, questioned if she would ever have lunch again with Anheli.<\/p>\n

It was an emotional event with many fighting back tears, but none fought harder than Anheli\u2019s mother, Merlyna Trinidad.<\/p>\n

Trinidad wore a pink and white checkered jacket and was consoled by staff, who hugged her without hesitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell we\u2019ve been leaning on each other,\u201d Father Martine said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone to realize: Anheli\u2019s family, the school community, the students, the teachers, that nobody is alone in all of this; they\u2019re all supporting each other through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Father Martine emphasized that it\u2019s the help of God that is strengthening those who love Anheli through these difficult times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tight-knit community here that we have in our school and we all lean on each other and help each other, it\u2019s like a family atmosphere here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The love for Anheli manifested itself throughout the ceremony in the tears of those who cherish her, but also through the release of balloons outside the school near the prayer garden where the statue of Our Lady of Altagracia will stand.<\/p>\n

\"AnheliFirst grade classmates release balloons at the dedication for Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad held on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at Father Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy.(Advance\/SILive.com|Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

Anheli\u2019s first-grade classmates braved the cold to gather outside with pink heart-shaped balloons in hand.<\/p>\n

Symbolically, the students and Anheli\u2019s mother sent their hearts up to heaven to remind Anheli that they will always think of her, as noted by Cretella.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I feel so sad, my heart is broke, you know? But one small part of my heart is like happy for how much love they have for my daughter,\u201d Trinidad told the Advance\/SILive.com.<\/p>\n

Trinidad described how her \u201clovely girl\u201d was beloved by the school community and how Anheli was \u201creally happy\u201d there.<\/p>\n

As explained by Cretella, the school community has done an \u201cincredible\u201d job handling the death of their young student.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re part of a faith-based community I think that that helps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur faculty, our staff, our parents were amazing. Everybody came together, everybody supported one another,\u201d Cretella added.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Cretella\u2019s hope that Anheli\u2019s mother and the students of her school \u201ccan find peace\u201d through the statue of Our Lady of Altagracia, which was blessed by Father Martine.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first graders are going to be here for another seven years, it\u2019s something that could offer them peace,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The memory of Anheli Vasquez\u2011Trinidad, 6, will forever live on at the Father Vincent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-106106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}