Twins' sad farewell
Family buries year-old twins left in back seat
They came into the world together; they died side by side, and on Saturday, the 1-year-old twins who perished when their father forgot them in a hot car were buried in tiny, matching white coffins.
Family and friends bid final goodbyes to Phoenix and Luna Rodriguez in a Saturday funeral service.
Wearing a black-collared shirt and gray dress pants, dad Juan Rodriguez’s face twisted in agony as his older son and daughter helped him load a tiny white casket into a waiting hearse outside the Sinatra Memorial Home in Yonkers.
Family was seen hugging outside the funeral home following the morning service, before piling into vehicles that tailed the hearse to Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale.
There, about 25 mourners gathered inside the Ferncliff Mausoleum, a white stone chapel on the cemetery grounds.
After about 40 minutes, Juan and wife Marissa, clad in a black shirtdress and leggings, emerged together, each holding the hand of their 4-year-old son, Tristan.
Media was kept at a distance, and the family declined to speak to reporters following the service.
Relatives have stood by Rodriguez, a 39-year-old disabled Iraq war veteran who has been described as a devoted dad, following the July 26 tragedy.
Officials say the Rockland County father parked his Honda Accord outside the James J. Peters VA Hospital in Kingsbridge at about 8 a.m. with the 1-yearolds inside.
He returned at around 4 p.m. and began to drive off when he realized the twins were still in the car.
A passerby called police after seeing Rodriguez screaming on the side of the road. The boy and girl were found foaming at the mouth and not breathing. EMS pronounced them dead at the scene.
“I killed my babies!” Rodriguez shrieked to cops upon learning of their deaths, for which he’s been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Prosecutors said they will not rush the case against him. A grand jury has yet to hear the case, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
On Friday — the day of the twins’ wake — a Rockland County state senator proposed a bill requiring all passenger cars to have motion-activated technology to detect when a child has been left behind.
State Sen. David Carlucci (DRockland) said 52 kids died in the United States last year after being left in hot cars.