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It was tragic enough when Manuel Reyes was brutally stabbed to death in the doorway of his Jersey City apartment on May 6.
Now, one of his mourners faces three months in a cast after a tombstone fell over during his funeral at Harsimus Cemetery in the city, breaking his leg.
But a cemetery official is disputing family accounts of the incident, telling the Jersey Journal that the accident occurred because others attending the graveside service ignored requests not to sit on the marker.
Reyes, 48, was found in a pool of blood, stabbed multiple times in the doorway of his third-floor apartment. On May 14, Hudson County authorities issued an arrest warrant for Esteban Gonzalez, 33, of Union City, who was already in custody in New York City on unrelated charges.Investigators believe Gonzalez, who reportedly has served time on burglary and drug charges, stole hundreds of dollars from Reyes' apartment. Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan set Gonzalez bail for murder at $750,000 cash.
Meanwhile, an estimated 125 people turned out for Reyes' service. About 50 were described as bikers, and they were gunning their engines in salute to him as Maria Figueroa, 50, walked toward the grave.
At that point, the slab toppled struck her, breaking two large bones in her leg. She underwent surgery at Jersey City Medical Center, where a plate, rod and screws were inserted in her leg. She was released May 14, but faces physical therapy once the cast is removed.
Eileen Markenstein, president of the volunteers who recently took charge of the cemetery, told the Journal that the caretaker repeatedly asked men attending the funeral not to lean or sit on the grave markers.
"I was upset that it happened," she said of Figueroa's injury, "but I was more upset that it wouldn't have happened if these men didn't sit on the stones."
But Figueroa's daughter Zamaida told the newspaper that she had videotaped the ceremony, "and I didn't see anyone sitting on the stones."
The volunteers took charge of the cemetery last year, after the death of the last member of its operating board.
For more on the case against Gonzalez, visit nj.com.
— JOE TYRRELL, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
