Daughter calls for compassion for mom’s alleged killer twin at funeral
The adolescent daughter of a slain New Jersey woman put aside her grief on Friday to urge compassion for her mom’s twin sister, who’s accused of fatally plunging a carving knife into her sibling’s chest.
During remarks at her mom’s funeral service, Abrianna Ramirez said she’d spoken with jailed aunt Amanda Ramirez, 27, “and I’m pretty sure I helped her hear my voice.”
“As much as it hurts that my mom isn’t here with us right now, imagine the way that she feels,” said Abrianna, who appeared to be in her early teens.
“I know a lot of us may feel hate toward her and a lot of us still love her. But I’m not asking for y’all to forgive her, I’m just asking for y’all to help her.”
Abrianna — the eldest of victim Anna Ramirez’s three children — remained composed as she told about 200 mourners that Amanda had her own daughter, as well as “me and my sisters and my dad and all of y’all to come home to, but she just don’t feel it right now.”
“And I would appreciate it if everyone made her feel that she’s still part of the family, cause that’s the only thing that she needs,” she said.
“When she comes out, I don’t want a broken woman, I want Amanda, or as much as I can get from her.”
Abrianna also made an appeal on behalf of her cousin, saying “if not I’m not going to get my aunt back, she’s not going to get her mom back.”
Abrianna and many of the mourners wore custom T-shirts bearing Anna’s image along with air-brushed messages that included “In loving memory” and “I will always love you.”
Abrianna’s shirt said “Understand.”
Anna’s body, dressed in a black blazer and white dress, lay in an open casket for the informal, 10-minute funeral at the Falco/Caruso & Leonard Funeral Home in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
Amanda is charged with aggravated manslaughter for allegedly killing her identical twin during a fight outside their family’s home in nearby Camden around 5:40 a.m. on Saturday — less than two hours after Anna posted a photo on Facebook that showed them smiling with pals.
Investigators reportedly suspect the fight was sparked by a “love triangle” involving both sisters.
