Family: Henderson teen lost his life trying to rescue his young brother

As a pastor was leading sobbing mourners in prayer Saturday afternoon, a fierce wind gust ripped through the group of friends and strangers alike who gathered for the memorial.

It had not been 48 hours since a mother and her two sons were slain in this neighborhood in southeast Henderson, not far from where grief-stricken attendees stood in remembrance on a grassy field.

Many were so emotionally upset that their bodies shook as they cried uncontrollably. They hugged one another and released white balloons with messages written on them.

“I felt like that gust of wind that did come through here during the prayer was them,” said Jonathan Maturell in addressing the mostly teenage crowd.

In response, some of those gathered shouted “yeah” or “amen.”

“It’s like he’s still here,” a teenage boy later lamented to another teen.

Maturell told a heartbreaking account of heroism from the incident. In his final moments, his 15-year-old nephew, Arias, had an opportunity to escape the onslaught at 1146 Paradise Garden Drive.

The boy’s sister had escaped, Maturell said, but 5-year-old Avi was still in the home. The teen “chose to run back into the home, because he didn’t want to leave his youngest brother there,” Maturell said through tears.

Arias, Avi, and their mother, Selina