Funeral of mother killed in New York by her boyfriend told: ‘No justice in this world for Denise’
A PRIEST at the funeral of a young Irish mother shot dead in New York issued an impassioned public appeal for people to renounce the ‘domestic violence scourge’ in society.
Denise Morgan, 39, a mother-ofone from Tullyallen, Drogheda, Co. Louth, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent murder-suicide at her home in Queens, New York, on October 21 last.
Her boyfriend, Joed Taveras, 33, was also found dead in the property with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her death is being treated as a homicide by police in the US.
Speaking in the Church of the Assumption in Tullyallen where Denise was baptised, made her Holy Communion and was confirmed, Fr Seán Dooley told mourners: ‘Denise was born to be a mother. From the moment she realised
‘Her life was suddently cut off in a brutal way’
that Mollie was on the way and until her very last day, Mollie was the centre of her life.
‘Denise was stolen from us. Her life was suddenly cut off in a brutal way and sadly there will be no justice for Denise.
‘We ponder how this could have happened to such a beautiful young woman… Hopefully, her tragic death will help us and repudiate it, to develop an understanding of domestic violence and call out inappropriate behaviour and the cultural attitude that underpins our domestic violence scourge.’
Denise’s nine-year-old daughter Mollie was not at home when the horrific sequence of events that claimed her mother’s life unfolded in New York last month.
But yesterday, at the beginning of the funeral Mass, the little girl was the first to present symbols of what mattered most to her mother.
The nine-year-old carried a small drawing to the church altar.
Edged in bright green crayon, it was a portrait of love showing her mother’s trademark blonde streaked hair, with a pink capital letter M and a love heart below.
In a moving tribute to Denise, her cousin Mandy Carr said family had meant everything to the young mother, who had worked in restaurants in Ireland and New York.
Mandy said: ‘We will miss all the funny things… the phone calls that went on for hours.
‘We can’t follow you where you are now but we will look for you in other ways.
She added: ‘We will never forget you Denise and we promise to cherish and care for Mollie.
‘We’re sure she knows how much you adored her and loved her.’
Fighting back the tears, Ms Carr then recited a heartfelt poem, concluding by saying Denise ‘will walk with us forever’, adding: ‘We love you and miss our beautiful Denise; mother, daughter, sister, aunty, niece, cousin and friend.’
More than €30,000 was raised in a GoFundMe campaign to help repatriate Denise’s body to the village where she grew up.
And yesterday, to the strains of the Bryan Adams song Heaven, six male relatives carried the pale grey casket bearing the young mother’s remains to her final resting place at a local graveyard.
Denise Morgan is survived by her daughter Mollie, her mother and father, Deirdre and Noel, sisters Lisa and Shannon, brother John and Mollie’s father, Larry.