Baughman: Notebook Evidence of Salvation
Posted by Terry White on November 22, 2006
From today’s Chicago Tribune:
4 children killed in Elkhart laid to rest
By RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press Writer
ELKHART, Ind. — More than 300 mourners, including teary-eyed parents with young children clinging to them, filled a church Tuesday for the funeral of four slain children whose mother has been arrested in their deaths.
As the funeral Mass began, three white coffins — the largest containing the two youngest children — were rolled into St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Elkhart, followed by family members, including a weeping young woman cradling a swaddled infant.
The white-linen-draped coffins were moved to the church’s white-tiled altar, which was lit by candles mounted on ornate holders.
The 90-minute Roman Catholic service was mostly in Spanish, although mourners were led in singing both Spanish and English versions of “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art” and other songs. Exclamations and chatter from more than a dozen young children punctuated the service, leading some parents to scold their youngsters during the long Mass.
Deacon Ramiro Reyes told the largely Hispanic gathering that the four young victims — Jennifer Lopez, 8, Gonzalo Lopez, 6, Daniel Valdez, 4, and Jessica Valdez, 2 — were now far beyond their earthly concerns.
“They are in God’s hands now. May God embrace them now and for all eternity,” Reyes said, urging those gathered to pray “for all parents who suffer over the deaths of their children.”
Autopsies showed the four siblings died of asphyxia, and investigators are treating the deaths as homicides but have released no further details.
Their mother, 27-year-old Angelica Alvarez has been arrested in their deaths, and prosecutors have until Wednesday to file charges. The Elkhart County prosecutor has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning to discuss Alvarez’s arrest.
She was found unconscious Nov. 14 among her children’s bodies in the basement of their home in Elkhart, 15 miles east of South Bend.
Gonzalo Lopez, father of the two oldest children, has said Alvarez was depressed after losing her job and had been hospitalized for 12 days. Officials at Norco Industries, where Alvarez had worked as a housekeeper for three years, said she quit in mid-September.
Lopez earlier told the South Bend Tribune that he met Alvarez in Mexico and that they lived in Lazaro Cardenas, a port city in the state of Michoacan. A decade ago, Lopez and Alvarez moved near Elkhart to Goshen, where Lopez had family.
Alvarez, however, left her entire family behind in Mexico.
The Rev. Wilson Corzo delivered the Catholic service almost entirely in Spanish.
But the Rev. Brian Baughman of Osceola Grace Brethren Church, where Alvarez and her children had attended services, addressed the gathering in English with a Spanish translator at his side.
He urged those gathered to turn to each other for comfort as they deal with the tragedy.
Baughman said he had been bothered since the four siblings were found dead whether the oldest child, 8-year-old Jennifer Lopez, had understood the Christian belief that Jesus Christ died for humanity’s sins.
He said he found his answer in a blue spiral school notebook that the child had kept that included comments in which she thanked God for help in passing a mathematics test. He held the book aloft and said it was proof that she was a Christian and would have an eternal life.
“‘Dear God, I loved it when I got a B-minus on my math test. I thank you for that. I love you a lot. I love you and my family,”‘ Baughman said, reading a passage dated Nov. 6 from the notebook.
“I believe these four children — all four of them — are right now in the direct presence of God in heaven,” he added.
As the service ended, Baughman’s wife, Tammy, her voice cracking, described the personalities of the four children, recalling Jennifer’s contagious smile, Gonzalo’s love of giving hugs, Daniel’s obsession with “The Lion King” and Jessica’s independent streak.
Tammy Baughman had visited the young family the day of the children’s deaths but she has said she did not see any signs they were in danger.
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