One year after his son was gunned down in what some consider a hate crime, Christian Segovia said it’s the sense of emptiness that hurts the most – seeing the spaces where his son is no longer present.
“The damage goes beyond the dead people, and the truth is that one does not feel complete anymore,” said Segovia, whose son, Christian “Chele” Marlon Segovia Jr., was shot and killed June 11, 2023, just a month before turning 25. Also killed were Mario Antonio Mireles Ruiz, 27, and his father, Nicolas Mireles, 55.
The three were allegedly slain by Charles Smith, an Annapolis resident, who reportedly got into a confrontation with the victims over a victim’s vehicle partially blocking a driveway. The victims had been at a birthday party in the neighborhood.
Smith was indicted for three counts each of first-degree murder and three counts of race/religious crime resulting in death, along with related crimes including the alleged assault of six other victims.
The Catholic community rallied around the families of the victims and has been providing ongoing support. Archbishop William E. Lori and Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., concelebrated a funeral Mass for Nicolas and Mario Antonio Mireles at St. John Neumann in Annapolis, a mission of St. Mary in Annapolis.
A parish Guadalupano apostolate, which provides help to immigrants in difficult situations, has been working for months to raise enough money to buy the house where Sandra, Nicolas Mireles’ widow, lives with her eight children.
“I know that Sandra could keep her children together in the same school, in the same house, and with the memory of their father, with their neighbors who help them and love them so that her children can continue to grow up where their father left them,” said Susana Cruz, member of the pastoral council of St. Mary and assistant director of the Guadalupano group.
Christian Segovia, who was baptized Catholic but is not practicing, said Cruz “has been present body and soul” for the families.
“She has been with us in everything and is the person who has never left any of us, including the Mireles family,” he said, noting that the Guadalupano apostolate donated the money for his son’s funeral expenses in San Salvador, where some of the extended family lives.
“We tend to think that there are only angels in heaven,” he said, “but there are not.”
Redemptorist Father John McKenna, associate pastor of St. Mary, remembered that there was a “peaceful, sad” march through town to remember the victims. Family members are planning a rally or some other type of gathering on the anniversary of the homicides on the street where it happened, he said.
“The march had people from many different walks of life,” he said.
For the last year, Smith has been held in custody as he awaits trial. According to a report in the Capital Gazette, a judge delayed the trial’s start date until early next year.
Christian Segovia told the Catholic Review that his son’s girlfriend was three months pregnant when he was killed.
“My son’s daughter, my granddaughter, was born exactly on Dec. 24, and, believe me, I know that it is a gift,” he said, “and, the truth is that little by little, we are trying because the girl has come to revive us a little. She was like a Christmas present.”
God exists, he said.
“He manifests himself in many ways,” he said. “I believe in God today more than ever because it is impossible to endure all this without him.”
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