Ricky Morris

Ted Orama’s sister, Addie Navarro, and her husband Felix Navarro mourn the death of their family member.

A candlelight vigil was held outside of Dreyfoos on Friday, July 12 at 4 p.m. in honor of school custodians Ted Orama and Christopher Marshall, who were found dead in school on June 19.

A handful of speeches were given to commemorate the two, including one by Jeri Muoio, the mayor of West Palm Beach. Mayor Muoio used her time to talk about the tragedy as well as gun safety control.

“The last thing I wanted to hear was that two people have been murdered in my city,” Mayor Muoio said.”It’s supposed to be safe here, and that’s even more disappointing.”

Mr. Orama’s sister, Addie Navarro, and brother-in-law, Felix Navarro, were able to attend the ceremony and speak. While Mr. Orama’s entire family lives in New York, Mrs. Navarro was the only member who lived in Florida and was able to claim her brother’s body when found dead.

“This is very humbling to know that these people cared and loved him and obviously because he cared and loved for them,” Mr. Navarro said.

Visual senior and SGA Co-President Juan Granados attended the ceremony to support his school and represent it in a positive light.

“It was more of a representative thing; we want to use this time to represent the student body,” Granados said.

The ceremony was held by the Service Employee International Union of the Florida Public Services Union. Eduardo Nunez, Vice Chair of the Latino Caucus, shared a few words about the shooting.

“[Mr. Orama] did nothing wrong, he died because he was doing the right thing,” Mr Nunez said.

Alphonso Mayfield, President of SEIU gave a speech and also        announced that PNC banks have started a donation fund for Mr. Marshall’s two sons. At any PNC location in the county, members of the community can drop off a donation.

“It’s always hard to speak when someone loses their life. The reason why we wanted to do this is for support of the community. [This is] a celebration of their lives,” Mr. Mayfield said. “The question is, ‘What are we going to do now? What are we going to do to make sure that this never happens again?'”

The ceremony lasted for about 45 minutes, where a candle was lit for both Mr. Orama and Mr. Marshall in front of their pictures. A crowd of about 75 people, including students, faculty and members of the community, stood in a circle around the candles, listened to the speeches and took a few minutes to honor Mr. Orama and Mr. Marshall silently.

“I think [Mr. Orama] would be tickled by this ceremony, but also worried about organizing it and cleaning it up,” Mr. Navarro said.