A candlelight vigil will be held this evening in memory of three-week-old Eliza Delacruz, who went missing from her North Long Beach home Saturday night after her mother, father and uncle were shot by an unknown suspect. Eliza’s body was found in Imperial Beach on Sunday.
The vigil will be hosted by Lawanda Hawkins, who founded Justice for Murdered Children in 1996 when her son Reggie was murdered.
Hawkins said the objective of tonight’s vigil is to go door-to-door to pass out flyers regarding the Board of Supervisors’ $25,000 reward to neighbors to try to get them to come forward to police with information.
“As a parent who’s had a child murdered, I know it’s important that the community come out and show support,” she said. “Whatever these neighbors heard or saw last Saturday needs to be told to the Long Beach Police Department immediately. We understand a lot of them are scared and just don’t understand. But we’re here to show them nothing is going to happen to them if they stand up. People who stand up are heroes. We need to start saying that. All this derogatory name calling has to stop. They’re not snitches. They’re heroes. The littlest thing that you thought may not be important information needs to be told to police.”
The vigil will be held at 6:00PM outside Eliza’s home at 34 West 51st Street, and will be open to the public.