Sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows of St. Cecilia Catholic Church in south St. Louis as more than 50 community members gathered for a funeral Mass on Tuesday.

Lucy Garzón slowly walked down the aisle, surrounded by family. At the altar rested the ashes of her son, Brayan Garzón-Rayo, in an urn draped with a white cloth.

Beside it stood a framed portrait inscribed with words Lucy knows by heart:

En la tierra, mi guerrero. En el cielo, mi ángel.

On earth, my fighter. In heaven, my angel.

Garzón-Rayo arrived in the United States from Colombia in 2023, seeking safety with his family. He died in April while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For weeks, his body remained in rural Crawford County — unclaimed and far from his family in St. Louis. H

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