‘She was our abuela’ — Richmond Hill remembers slain 92-year-old

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Richmond Hill residents gathered to remember Maria Fuertes. They asked ICE not to politicize the woman death after it was discovered her alleged killer was undocumented. Photo courtesy of District Leader Richard David.

Richmond Hill residents gathered to remember Maria Fuertes. They asked ICE not to politicize the woman death after it was discovered her alleged killer was undocumented. Photo courtesy of District Leader Richard David.

By Jonathan Sperling

Richmond Hill residents were somber on Jan. 19 as they remembered the life and legacy of Maria Fuertes, a 92-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted and killed near her home earlier this month. The attendees also pushed back against xenophobic messaging that resulted from Fuertes’ death, allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant.

The man charged with killing Fuertes, 22-year-old Reeaz Khan, was reportedly sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before the alleged attack. ICE’s New York Field Office Director Thomas Decker criticized New York City for not complying with ICE detainer requests. 

Fuertes’ neighbors, who fondly referred to her as “our abuela,” made clear that the woman’s death should not be used as a tool by ICE to promote the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policies.

“She was our abuela! Maria lived in Richmond Hill all her life after migrating from the Dominican Republic. She was walking around at midnight collecting bottles, as she normally did, because she felt safe here,” said Richard David, a Democratic district leader in Assembly District 31.

David added that it was “despicable, but not surprising, that ICE would use this tragedy to further the anti-immigrant campaign of the Trump administration.”

Fuertes herself was an immigrant, who came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. Despite not being Guyanese, she was well known in the community of “Little Guyana,” along Liberty Avenue, where she collected bottles to recycle and redeem for money so that she could buy food for the neighborhood cats.

“I’m heartbroken, but the love this community has always shown my family is tremendous and this vigil brings me to tears” Fuertes’ son, Louis, said at the vigil. “We have always been a part of the fabric of the Guyanese community, although we’re not Guyanese, because this community is full of love.”