ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer
Sisters Tammy Rosario (left) and Natalie Elias cling together in grief near their uncle Angelo Betancourt on North Third Street, where teddy bears, flowers, and candles form a memorial. Rosario's daughter, Gina Marie Rosario, 7, was among the victims.
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Four deaths bring neighborhood closer
At the nearby Willard School, principal Ron Reilly watched a stream of uniformed students run into the school yard.
Gina was a second grader there, at the school since kindergarten.
"Everybody knows her and loves her," Reilly said. "She always had a smile for me."
In the community, anger and grief prevailed.
Jimmy Borras, who lives nearby, said the city should build a safe place for the neighborhood children to play. Without a close playground or rec center, youngsters often just congregate on Third Street, playing handball against a warehouse wall.
"We need a rec," Borras said. "All our kids are out here. We have no playground. There are lots of abandoned buildings, but nothing for our kids."
Others decried the way cars speed through the neighborhood.
"They fly," said Gina's grandmother, Elias. "This is like an expressway."
Borras said he took some comfort in the way the accident has brought the already tight-knit community closer. Before, the Boyers and Griffins didn't know the Rosarios.
But at midafternoon yesterday, Tammy Rosario approached Boyer, embracing her.
"It doesn't matter who it happens to," Borras said. "It happens to someone in this neighborhood, it happens to your family."
Last night, about 200 people gathered on Third Street for a vigil.
Alfredo Toro stood nearby and gave long hugs to his nieces, acknowledging that the moment reminded him of just how precious they were.
"They're three little angels," he said of the young victims. "They didn't harm nobody."
Verna Brown kneeled to speak to her grandson, Devon Brown Griffin, 4, who knew the victims and played with them frequently.
"She's left the doctor's," Brown told the boy. "She's gone to heaven."
Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.
Inquirer staff writers Robert Moran and Jeff Shields contributed to this article.
