'Our Family Is Broken'
Cold-case closure sought in drive-by shooting
Cold-case closure sought in drive-by shooting
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 6, 2008
July 6, 2008
Last Sept. 16, as Mexican Independence Day came to a close, a sleepy-eyed Benita Alonzo shuffled off to bed.
As she does every night before calling it a day, Alonzo paused near a makeshift shrine in her East Chicago home.
There, photographs of her children and grandchildren share sacred space with a crucifix, votive candles, and hallowed religious items. There, she said a prayer in all their names.
But on this Sunday night, her ritual was interrupted by the sound of gunshots in her neighborhood.
Knowing it wasn't merely celebratory fireworks, the 83-year-old Catholic believer whispered one additional prayer, for the victim of the gunfire.
A few hours later, she learned that the victim was her grandson, Rene Alonzo .
The 33-year-old father of two was gunned down in a drive-by shooting outside a bar near his grandmother's home. He died in his girlfriend's arms.
Police suspect it's a fatal case of mistaken identity involving his signature New York Yankees cap, or that he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. But the months-long cold case has since frozen into icy injustice for the grieving family.
That's why they agreed to this column, and why they're posting a $10,000 reward for the conviction of the killer.
"We simply want someone to come forward and tell the truth about that night," said Stacey Alonzo , Rene 's sister. "Our family is broken."
READ JERRY DAVICH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RENE ALONZO , PAGE A3
Caption: Stacey Alonzo brings fresh flowers and neatens the gravestone of her older brother Rene Alonzo at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens in Schererville.(PHOTO - Color) (STEPHANIE DOWELL/POST-TRIBUNE) Rene Alonzo , 33, a father of two, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting outside a bar near his grandmother's East Chicago home on Sept. 16 >>(PHOTO - Color)
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