At least six of the people killed in the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando were parents, most of whom left behind young children.
Information is still coming out about each of the victims. Below are a few details I’ve been able to glean so far about those who were parents. Not all were LGBTQ, but all were Latinx or Black.
First, however, let me say that everyone who died in Orlando is someone’s child, and I feel that in the gut every time I think about it. One victim, Akyra Murray, was only 18, and had just graduated from high school. Yet since this is a parenting blog, I want to highlight the lives of those who, like most readers here, were also parents—not that their lives were more meaningful nor their deaths more tragic than any others, but because as fellow parents, we should recognize this shared aspect (among others) of our identities.
Deonka Deidra Drayton worked at the Pulse nightclub. Emmy Addison, who had been raising a child with Drayton, wrote at Black Lesbian Love Lab that while the two of them had been “on and off for nine years” and “taking some space to figure things out,” they had booked a cruise for the fall, but “were already talking about moving back in together.” Now, they’ll never have that chance.
And Addison wrote, heartwrenchingly:
The worst part was leaving the hospital knowing I had to go home to our son who loved her and who she loved so very much.
He’s only two; he doesn’t understand. But every time I look at all her pictures in my phone, he just points and says, “Mommie.”
Paul Terrell Henry had two children. One daughter had just graduated from high school. His boyfriend, Francisco Hernandez, told the Orlando Sentinel that “His [Henry’s] priority was to make sure his kids were taken care of.”
Miguel Honorato was the father of three, including a one and two-year-old, and also managed four restaurants and a catering business, ABC News reports.
Brenda Lee Marquez McCool was the mother of 12 and a two-time cancer survivor. One son was with her at Pulse, but survived, says the Orlando Sentinel. Update: It appears she died shielding her son from the bullets, reports LGBTQ Nation.
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado had a five-year-old son. Rosado was a professional dancer who had performed for Walt Disney World and the Norwegian Cruise Lines, but recently took a retail job “because the hours were more suitable for a parent,” said a co-worker, according to the Orlando Sentinel. They also report that Wilma Lozano, the boy’s mother, “said he loved to spend time with the boy swimming in the pool, watching movies and playing video games.”
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan was the mother of two, including a three-month-old. She was at Pulse with her husband Juan Borges, who survived, and a friend, Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, who died trying to protect her, the Orlando Sentinel tells us.
I will also note that the shooter, “appears to have a young son” according to ABC News. We should not blame the boy for the actions of his father. Let us hope that he, like all of the children above who have lost parents, gets the support and love he needs as he grows up.
