HOUSTON \u2013 A grieving Houston family says a memorial honoring 16-year-old shooting victim Jadiel \u201cJay\u201d Rodriguez has suddenly disappeared, just hours after loved ones gathered for a candlelight vigil.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, a student at Dobie High School, was shot and killed two weeks ago in a drive-by shooting in a park in the Durham Park Neighborhood near Blackhawk Ridge Lane and Sunny Terrace, according to Houston police. Another teen was also injured. Jay\u2019s family says they created the memorial at the park because it was a place where he grew up making memories and where they wanted to keep his spirit present.<\/p>\n
But on Friday morning, the family returned and found the tribute gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t see it, we don\u2019t have it anymore,\u201d said Jay\u2019s uncle, Victor Perdomo. \u201cSomeone came and without our permission, they took it away from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perdomo says the family held a candlelight vigil at the memorial the night before. \u201cWe were not given a notice,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had a candle light vigil the night before. The next morning when we go there to see the candle to remember Jadiel, it was not there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memorial included flowers, candles and a custom nameplate made in Jay\u2019s honor. Perdomo says neighbors reported seeing a man in a white truck pull up to the memorial and drive away with the items. He says maintenance told him their crews did not remove it. <\/p>\n
KPRC 2 reached out to the community association manager for the Durham Park HOA, who said the company is an offsite management group and she was not aware of a memorial or a removal.<\/p>\n
For the family, the missing items represent far more than decorations, especially the welded metal nameplate created by Jay\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cJadiel wanted to be a welder,\u201d Perdomo said. \u201cThere was something that he wanted to be in the future\u2026 he was planning to go to trade school to be a welder and his friend got together and they welded his name. That\u2019s what we want back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the family is pleading for whoever took the memorial to return it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you sleep at night knowing what you did?\u201d Perdomo said. \u201cGive us the stuff back. Give it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family is asking anyone who knows what happened to the memorial to come forward. At this time, no arrests have been made in Rodriguez\u2019s murder. Anyone with information is urged to contact Houston police or Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n
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