I knew Alondra Gonzalez Mejia since 7th grade. We went to the same secondary school, and I remember her being very friendly to me, the new girl. We went to school together until 11th grade when she went to an early college high school where she took college courses in addition to her high school classes. I ended up going to the same school for my senior year, and we reconnected there.
Alondra and I were in the same English 4 class. I sat up front while she sat in the back with all of her friends. After a few weeks, she talked to me and we realized that we knew each other and were already friends. Her friends became my friends, and I ended up becoming close with another girl in the group. I felt bad about not spending as much time as I wanted to with Alondra, so I promised spring semester to become better friends with her.
Recommended for you
Alondra died on January 12th, where she was found unresponsive in her room. No one knew how she died; no official statement about the cause of death was ever released, and so I assumed it was of natural causes. However, the police labeled it as “suspicious” and kept investigating. Six months after her death, they caught her accused murderer, 38-year-old Eliseo Verver Gonzalez. The police say Verver Gonzalez and Alondra knew each other; I later learned Verver Gonzalez is her stepfather.
Murder is such a strange word. I found out that Verver Gonzalez was arrested while I was in the Denver Airport, which was not a great place to find out. I immediately reached out to my friends who knew her, trying to see how they were. We were all in shock, in disbelief that someone would want to hurt Alondra. My flight was seven hours long, and I cried on and off the entire ride.
In the five years that I knew her, she was so kind. She always talked to the new students, served within her community, and was the co-president of our school’s Youth In Action club. She worked at Noodles and Company in her spare time, helping out her family. Alondra always went the extra mile to make others happy, and was always joyful herself. I can’t think of a single reason why anyone would want to hurt our beautiful friend.
It's been so frustrating knowing her murderer. He was at her funeral; I gave him my condolences. At the time, I didn't know he was the one who put us all in that funeral home. Growing up in a large city, you always hear of murders and such. But knowing the victim personally makes it different. It’s hard going around the same town, wondering if I walked the same sidewalk as Verver Gonzalez.
Out of the hundreds of thousands of people in our city, it just so happened that I knew Alondra. I was blessed enough to have known her out of the billions of people in this world. She was a bright light in this dim world, and even though our city is large, the community will never be the same without Alondra helping out.
It took me nearly six months to recuperate after Alondra died, and now that we know the truth about her death, it might take even longer to be OK. I know that things will never be normal again, but they may come close to normal at times. I’m sure I will never meet another person as kind and devoted as Alondra.
I feel selfish to say I wish I spent more time with you, but I know you touched many lives. Heaven has a very special angel up there and your smiling face will forever live in my heart.
