On what would have been his 19th birthday, family and friends gathered to remember a man who died of a gunshot wound in Silver Spring, Maryland, Tuesday.
Officers found Cristian Ortiz in the playground area of Seek Lane Park, Montgomery County police said. He died at the scene.
Loved ones gathered at the playground Thursday evening.
“I hope that the kids here today can see how fast things can change in the matter of a couple of days, in the matter of a couple of minutes,” said Stephany Martinez, Ortiz’s cousin.
“My son has passed,” said Miriam Ortiz, Cristian’s mother. “I can’t anymore see the face. I can’t anymore see in the morning, ‘Mom, I’m hungry.’”
She said her son juggled some issues, including fentanyl use. She said she did everything she could to help him.
“When a mother and father see something flag, speak to someone who will help you,” she said.
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She said she went to several community meetings to advocate for more resources for her son.
“Be that annoying parent,” Martinez said. “Go through your kids’ phones; go through your kids’ rooms. You are the parent. The government doesn’t care; the police don’t care. The only person that can save your kids is you as a parent.”
Miriam Ortiz said she will continue to fight for parents in the same situation.
Montgomery County police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to an arrest in the case.
“He very much was all about being himself in the most authentic way possible, whether you liked it or not,” Martinez said. “And that to me is something that we’ll miss, we’ll miss dearly.”
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