A day after prosecutors announced they needed more time to decide whether to press charges against Juan Rodriguez in relation to the deaths of his two young twins, the devastated father and his family mourned the children’s passing at a memorial service in Upstate New York Friday.
The 39-year-old wept outside a Bronx courthouse on Thursday morning when a grand jury declined to proceed on charges of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter.
Rodriguez, an Iraq war veteran, had been arrested last week after he accidentally left his twin one-year-olds Luna and Phoenix inside his broiling car for eight hours while he worked, having forgot to drop them off at day care.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and his lawyer urged the court drop the counts against him, siting the twins’ death to be a ‘tragic mistake’.
Today, Rodriguez and his wife Marissa arrived together dressed in black at the Sinatra Memorial Home in Yonkers to pay tribute to their later children and mourn their tragic deaths.
A day after prosecutors announced they needed more time to decide whether to press charges against Juan Rodriguez (above) in relation to the deaths of his two young twins, the devastated father and his family mourned the children’s passing at a memorial service in Upstate New York Friday
Wife and mother to the Twins, Marissa, arrived in the same car as her husband hours after she vowed to stand-by him outside a Bronx courtroom on Thursday
The distraught couple were flanked by a solemn procession of family members and friends, all clutching photos of the twins and bouquets of flowers as they attended the open casket service.
Rodriguez greeted guests at the door, issuing them all a firm hug with his head bowed as they proceeded through to see the children one last time in their all-white caskets, covered by a white veil.
‘Oh, my god. I love them so much. I can’t believe it,’ Rodriguez told one guest as he burst into tears in the lobby, the NY Post reported.
His friend hugged him and cried, replying: ‘My heart is broken!’
The distraught couple were flanked by a solemn procession of family members and friends, all clutching photos of the twins and bouquets of flowers as they attended the open casket service
Rodriguez greeted guests at the door, issuing them all a firm hug with his head bowed as they proceeded through to see the children one last time in their all-white caskets, covered by a white veil
When Rodriguez returned to his car last week just before 4pm, he drove for about 10 minutes before he realized the babies were in the backseat ‘foaming at the mouth’
A police officer stands guard outside the service at Sinatra Memorial Home on Friday afternoon, in Yonkers, New York
The receptacles proved to be too big for the tiny children. Small white pillows were placed in each coffin to fill the gaps, with one placed at the base of each baby’s feet; the other under their heads.
Luna was dressed in an angelic white laced dress with a ribbon headband; Phoenix wore a white tuxedo, with pristine white sneakers.
Two large hearts made out of pink and blue roses and surrounded by white ones accompanied each coffin.
There was also a large flower arrangement depicting a white moon, in memory of Luna, whose name means ‘moon’ in Spanish.
A large yellow sun with a phoenix in the middle stood in honor of Luna’s brother.
For some mourners the emotional gravitas of the occasion proved to be too much to handle. Many turned away at the door, with their guttural cries audible from the hallway.
Those composed enough to cross the threshold of the door knelt at the foot of both of the coffins to say their goodbyes. Looking at the infants briefly before making the sign of the cross.
Rodriguez reportedly forgot to drop his twins, son Phoenix (left) and daughter Luna (right), off at daycare on the morning of July 26, leaving them to swelter in the back of his Honda Accord for eight hours
Juan and Marissa Rodriguez, (pictured), sobbed as they clutched their son Tristan outside Bronx Supreme Court where a judge determined that Juan will not face a grand jury on charges relating to the death of the couple’s one-year-old twins
Rodriguez, a social worker, left his New City house on June 26 with his three youngest children in the back of his car.
He dropped his 4-year-old son at day care and got back in the car to drive the twins, Phoenix and Luna Rodriguez, to a different day care.
However, Rodriguez seemingly forgot and instead drove to his job at a veteran’s hospital in the Bronx, parking it in direct sunlight at 8am and heading inside.
Temperatures outside that day were recorded as reaching 85 degrees.
The father returned to his car just before 4pm and was driving for about 10 minutes before he realized the babies were in the backseat ‘foaming at the mouth’.
After making the tragic discovery, he burst into screams which attracted the attention of a bystander who quickly called 911.
‘I assumed I dropped them off at day care before I went to work,’ he reportedly told cops who arrived at the scene.
‘I blanked out! I My babies are dead! I killed my babies!’
Both of the children had died from heat-stroke.
Juan Rodriquez is seen kissing his son Tristan as he leaves court with his wife Marissa following the hearing
The couples’s grief was very much evident on Thursday, with Rodriguez’ lawyer saying his next court appearance will be August 27 when he will learn whether or not he faces charges
Marissa Rodriguez held her head as the stress of the past few days since the tragic death of her twin babies appeared to show following Thursday’s court hearing
Meanwhile, Marissa Rodriguez has vowed to stand by her husband as was evident by their united presence outside the Bronx courthouse on Thursday.
‘I will never get over this loss and I know he will never forgive himself for this mistake,’ the heartbroken mom said in a statement to NBC News on Sunday.
‘This was a horrific accident, and I need him by my side to go through this together.
‘Though I am hurting more than I ever imagined possible, I still love my husband. He is a good person and great father and I know he would’ve never done anything to hurt our children intentionally.’
Rodriguez’ attorney Joey Jackson said on Thursday that the investigation will continue before the DA determines whether or not to prosecute him over the deaths of his son Phoenix and daughter Luna.
This means the criminal case is still active but the prosecution has been paused, the district attorney’s office told NBC.
The 39-year-old is due back in court on August 27 for a decision on whether he will face criminal charges.
‘We’re back on August 27,’ his lawyer Joey Jackson said. ‘The purpose of that proceeding will again be to determine if a grand jury has been convened to indict Mr. Rodriguez. We are hopeful that will not be the case.’
Juan Rodriguez, a social worker and Iraq War veteran, was described by friends and family as a ‘loving father and dedicated husband’ with a ‘relentless drive to improve the lives of others’. He is pictured with the twins shortly after they were born in mid-July of last year
Rodriguez was inconsolable following his first court appearance on Saturday where he posted bond of $100,000. He had dropped off his eldest son at a house in Westchester before going to work, leaving his twin babies in the back seat of the car
A heartbreaking photograph shows Marissa and Juan Rodriguez celebrating their twin daughter and son’s first birthday earlier this month, three weeks before Luna and Phoenix died after their father accidentally left them in a hot car while he went to work at a veterans hospital
The father parked his Honda Accord (pictured) at the Veterans Hospital where he worked shortly after 8 am on Friday. He forgot his twins were strapped into car seats in the back
The social worker and Iraq war veteran was charged with two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminally negligent homicide on Saturday.
Rodriquez, 39, sobbed on Thursday as he stood outside Bronx Criminal Court with his wife Marissa and held his older son Tristan in his arms, with his lawyer speaking on his behalf.
Other family members turned out to support the couple, with Jackson urging the District Attorney to dismiss the charges against him over what he claimed was a ‘tragic accident.’
Jackson said: ‘We’re appealing to our sense of justice to do what we believe is the right thing and that is to dismiss these charges.
‘We understand that they will continue to evaluate all aspects of the case and we welcome their evaluation of that.
He added: ‘We believe that at the conclusion of them evaluating all the facts, all the evidence and everything in this case, they will come to the conclusion that this was a horrible tragedy.’
Rodriguez and his wife cried throughout the lawyer’s speech and shook their heads in despair numerous times when the twins’ names were mentioned.
He claimed Rodriquez and his family will be dedicating their life to the cause of ensuring that this doesn’t happen again.’
He added: ‘I yesterday had the privilege of speaking to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly about legislation that could and would be designed to ensure that car manufacturers outlet cars with mechanisms so as to alert parents, alert anyone in the car that there would be children that would be there so that this doesn’t happen again.’
Jackson claimed that hot car deaths have happened across the country, claiming there had been a record high of 52 similar incidents last year.
He said Rodriguez and his family will work with legislators when ‘they gain the strength to do so’ to ensure that others are protected.
Juan pleaded not guilty to all counts at a hearing at the courthouse and posted $100,000 bond on Saturday.
Juan Rodriguez, the dad who pleaded not guilty after getting charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide over the deaths of his twins Luna and Phoenix, was comforted by suporters after appearing at Bronx Supreme Court
Marissa posted this image of herself with the Luna, (left0, and Pheonix, (right),this month
Family and friends have flocked to defend the ‘loving father and dedicated husband’ who had put together the birthday party complete with a bouncy castle in the yard at their home in New City.
Ray Valerio, who identifies himself on his Facebook page as Juan Rodriguez’s uncle and brother, shared a link to the GoFundMe page with an impassioned statement endorsing the father and his ‘relentless drive to improve the lives of others’.
‘A disabled veteran, as well as a social worker for the VA Hospital in the Bronx, [Juan] has first-hand knowledge of how traumatic experiences can impact lives. He has dedicated his life to public service, positively affecting thousands of lives.
‘Juan is an honest and hard-working man. A man who now has to deal with the same type of traumatic loss that he has helped others cope with in the past.’
Valerio said Juan’s deadly mistake was ‘an unfortunate case of what is called Forgotten Baby Syndrome … where parents accidentally forget about a child and leave them in their vehicle while performing daily tasks and routines’.
‘Parents often think that their child is in a safe place, like daycare or at home. It has become a re-occurrence across the country, and unfortunately, it happened to Juan yesterday,’ he wrote.