Family, Friends Remember Diego Trejo at Candlelight Vigil
Dozens of sparkling blue balloons bobbed over the parking lot at the Boys & Girls Club in Mount Kisco Monday night where more than 80 people gathered to remember Diego Trejo.
The candlelight vigil was held by his family a week after he was tragically killed in a car accident. They welcomed friends and acquaintances to share their memories of the 22-year-old Trejo. Teary-eyed, people hugged one another and held lit candles and small posters with pictures of Trejo and words of remembrance.
Those who attended were asked to wear blue clothing because that was Trejo’s favorite color.
“My brother may not be with us on Earth anymore but he will continue to love us,” said Trejo’s sister Stephanie Trejo. “I believe that’s who he is and who he was.”
Speaking in Spanish and English, Trejo’s mother, Maria Camacho, spoke lovingly of her son and thanked God.
“I love you, God, without you I couldn’t get through this,” she said.
William Martinez, Trejo’s uncle, said he loved his nephew like a son.
“He loved everybody. He was so gentle and you could never get mad at him,” Martinez said. “He touched the lives of many people. He made us laugh, he made us smile.”
Trejo was killed in a head-on collision on Route 172 on the evening of Dec. 16 while he was on his way home to his Pound Ridge residence where he had recently moved. The other car was driven by Robert Schuster, 51, of Bedford. Bedford police are still investigating the accident.
Trejo had been born and raised in Mount Kisco and was a Fox Lane High School graduate. He was attending Westchester Community College and had been a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club.
Humorous stories were shared by friends and cousins that painted a picture of a good-natured and free-spirited young man who was openly compassionate and loved life. One young cousin recalled Trejo’s love for his grandmother’s home-made cooking, especially empanadas, and how he would finish off a full platter in one sitting. Trejo’s other sister, Sophia Trejo, remembered a family gathering where her brother was acting silly and ended up under the dinner table looking for water.
A best friend remembered a trip to Colorado and how traveling with Trejo was an adventure in and of itself.
Smiling lightly, Stephanie Trejo said when she recently came home from college for Thanksgiving, she argued with Diego about moving his stuff out of her room.
“The day I left to go back was a day we didn’t argue,” she said. “Diego was helping me pack my car. He asked to say goodbye twice. I was the last person to see him alive.”
At Monday night’s vigil, the blue balloons were released at precisely 9:24 p.m., the time Trejo died last week, and gently floated up into the sky.
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/