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<div><em>The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit</em> -Psalm 34:17-20.
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<div>It is with broken hearts that we announce the passing of Romero Gonzales.
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<div>His father received the call that no parent should ever receive last Sunday morning. **Romeo passed away while under custody.** No other information was provided. As the days unfolded, he would also receive a call from the medical examiner that they had completed their evaluation, and Romeo could be released from their office.
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<div>“How did my son pass away?” my brother asked. No other information could be provided, and the details about how Romero passed away could take 14 weeks or longer.
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<div>Romero had called home just a couple of days earlier. He chatted with his mother and his father. He sounded in good spirits. He was looking forward to being released soon. He had talked about his goals and had been writing a lot of music.
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<div>He chatted with his sister too about her upcoming homecoming dance. Romero was excited for his sister, and he told her he would be sending her a letter with some drawings. Sadly, his sister received the letter a few days after his passing.
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<div>We were all excited that Romero would be coming home soon, but this is not the way that we could have ever imagined that he would come home.
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<div>We are very saddened by Romero’s passing. And today, as we grieve together, we have no answers as to what happened to Romero to cause his death.
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<div>How did Romero end up serving time since 2017? On a bitter cold winter day in January, while trying to get out of the elements, he chose to break into a building. We don’t know why Romero made that choice rather than going to a shelter or calling a family member or a friend. We wish he had made a different choice.
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<div>But, he made a bad choice; he broke the law.
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<div>We did know that Romero struggled with mental illness, something that was precipitated a few years prior to his incarceration after attending a party and having a medical episode. It would prove to be challenging to get Romero the help he needed for his mental illness with the resources available.
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<div>According to the National Alliance On Mental Health (NAMI):
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<div>• People with mental health conditions are overrepresented in our nation’s jails and prisons — with many individuals becoming justice-involved due to a lack of adequate community mental health services.
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<div>• Despite constitutional rights for individuals who are incarcerated to receive medical and mental health care, nearly two-thirds of people with mental illness in jails and prisons do not receive mental health treatment.
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<div>Romero would serve close to eight years for that choice, but he was getting out soon.
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<div>According to Cornell Medicine, American correctional systems have been roundly criticized for failing to provide even minimally appropriate mental health services for prison inmates. Romero’s punishment did not seem to fit his crime, and we are deeply saddened that we could not do more to get him home. Romero was caught in a system that would prove challenging to navigate through.
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<div>Yet, we are still without answers.
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<div>It is never easy to say goodbye, but it is important that you know that we loved Romero. Romero meant so much to us, and his life mattered. He was a child of God, a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew, a grandson, a cousin, a friend, loved by all. Unfortunately, he was part of a broken system.
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<div>A system that failed him, but his life mattered. It's hard to put into words how much Romero will be missed and knowing that his hopes and dreams will never become a reality hurts, but we can all be a part of honoring him as he is laid to rest into eternity.
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<div>As Romero’s aunt, I would like to thank you all for your gift and help with laying Romero to rest. Your support is truly appreciated.
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<div>**Thank you all once again for helping us in honoring Romero’s life.**
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<div>**Any additional funding after funeral expenses will go to legal costs that may be associated with determining Romero’s cause of death.**
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<div>Sites about Mental Illness and Incarceration:
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<div><a href="https://psychiatry.weill.cornell.edu/research-institutes/dewitt-wallace-institute-psychiatry/issues-mental-health-policy/fact-sheet-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://psychiatry.weill.cornell.edu/research-institutes/dewitt-wallace-institute-psychiatry/issues-mental-health-policy/fact-sheet-0" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://psychiatry.weill.cornell.edu/research-institutes/dewitt-wallace-institute-psychiatry/issues-mental-health-policy/fact-sheet-0</a></a>
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<div><a href="https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mental-Health-Treatment-While-Incarcerated_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mental-Health-Treatment-While-Incarcerated_final.pdf" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mental-Health-Treatment-While-Incarcerated_final.pdf</a></a>
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