Fundraiser held for homicide victim's funeral

A valley woman is calling on the community for help after the death of her husband, 60-year-old Heriberto Diaz.  He was shot and killed last Saturday walking home from work.

 

A week later, his wife Maria Diaz held a car wash to help raise money for his funeral.

 

"My heart is confused,” she told 13 Action News. “I'm happy because the whole community is here helping me, and I'm upset because of what happened."

 

 

Supporters came out in droves. Many of them had cars that weren't even dirty.

 

"I thought it was really sad,” said one man getting a wash. “This guy just walking down the street and getting shot like that. I mean, that's not right."

 

The Diaz family hopes to raise nearly $15,000 so they can bury Heriberto in Mexico next to his mother.

 

"That was his dream,” his nephew Luis Diaz told Action News. “He always told us that the day he passed away he wanted to go back to Mexico. Unfortunately, his mother already passed away so he wanted to be close. He wanted to be buried with his mother."

 

As a mother herself, Maria strives to hide her pain. She wants to be strong for her kids.

 

"When my kids go to sleep, I go down and I talk to him and that's when I start crying,” she says. “I try not to. I try not to. I need to stay strong.”

 

She says it's what Heriberto would want her to do.

 

"I'm their mother and I'm their father, and I'm going to be everything for them,” she says. 

 

The family will be holding the car wash again on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of K-Mart on Bonanza Road and Nellis Boulevard.