Next 060716 issue 009

4

I t could have been any of us. Living in Orlando, and working as the publisher of Next Central Florida magazine, I have been to Pulse Nightclub dozens of times. So I could have been inside that fateful

Sunday morning last month when the largest massacre in recent U.S. history unfolded. Instead, I was on the outside looking in.

The entire LGBT community, living in Orlando or across the globe, remains shocked, unnerved, and groping for words to express our sorrow for the victims of this tragedy. To their families, I send my condolences, joining millions from around the world.

My mind is full of rage, sadness and sorrow. I am numb as I struggle to find the strength to accept what is unacceptable. I have never thought of myself as someone who lacks courage, but now find myself needing to dig deep to move forward, united with my LGBT brothers and sisters.

During the past few weekends, Pride festivals have seen attendance grow--Wilton Manors and St. Petersburg among them. We as a com-munity found the strength to stand proud and tall in unity. For the victims who died, and the survivors who lived, we have become their voice by joining these festivals in record numbers.

We were not be there to party, but rather to remember, and celebrate our togetherness as we rebuild our lives in the weeks and months that follow.

In this, our July issue of Next Central Florida, we reflect on our triumph in the face of this adversity. It is the least we can do for those who perished, and the best way to honor those who did not.

United we stand.

Scott SparPublisherNext Central Florida

CENTRAL FLORIDA

PUBLISHERSCOTT SPAR

9

USTHE

We remember the 49 victims of Orlando

by listing their names and compiling their photographs.

WE REMEMBER

BY RICHARD HACK

10

Stanley worked as a pharmacy technician at Avella Specialty Phar-macy. According to his friend Isis Perez, he was known for his quick smile, his fierce gaze, and his ability to charm anyone with his infectious laugh.

p Stanley ManoloAlmodovar III, 23

Amanda went to Pulse nightclub with her best-friend Mercedez Marisol Flores. They took refuge in the bathroom during the attack. Alvear posted a horrifying Snapchat video of the first moments of gunfire erupting at the club. Both she and Flores were killed.

p Amanda Alvear, 25

Oscar lived with his lover Simon A. Carrillo in a home they purchased together last year. The pair had recently re-turned from a vacation to Niagara Falls, and were celebrating their home-coming at Pulse. Both men died in the attack.

p Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26

Rodolfo worked as a biologic assistant at One-Blood Donation Centers. Ironically, OneBlood saw a line-up of donors in the wake of the attack on Pulse nightclub. Rodolfo was originally from San German, Puerto Rico, and sent monthly checks back to the island to help support relatives.

p Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33

Antonio was a Captain in the Army Reserves and was deployed in Kuwait five years ago. He was a 2008 graduate of Flor-ida A&M University. He worked as a Human Re-sources manager at Lowe’s in Fern Park since 2015.

p Antonio Davon Brown, 29

Known for his color-ful bow ties, Darryl wore one to Pulse to celebrate a night on the town in Orlando. He was a finan-cial aid advisor at Keiser University in Jacksonville.

p Darryl Roman Burt II, 29

p Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28

Originally from Puerto Rico, Angel had just re-cently moved to Florida from Chicago. He was only days away from beginning his new career as an oph-thalmic technician at the Florida Retina Institute.

p Luis Daniel Conde, 39

Coupled with partner Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, Luis was happiest when he was providing excel-lent personal care at this hair salon and spa. Luis and Juan died in each other’s arms.

Tevin was the founder and owner of Total En-trepreneurs Concepts, a marketing company in Saginaw, Michigan. He was a graduate of West Iredell High School in Statesville, and studied business at Strayer Uni-versity South in Char-lotte, NC.

p Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25

Cory was a student at Valencia Community College, and was cele-brating his 21st birthday with his girlfriend and a dozen other classmates. He worked at Publix Su-permarket. His girlfriend was wounded in the shooting but is expected to recover.

p Cory James Connell, 21

Anthony Luis Laureano Disla was a born dancer, and spent the evening of Saturday, June 11, on the dance floor at Pulse Nightclub with his two roommates. Anthony was still dancing when shots were fired, hitting him multiple times. His roommates were both critically injured.

pAnthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25

A native of Huicha-pan, Mexico, Juan was a housekeeping supervisor at the Reunion Resorts in Kissimmee. He was the youngest of six children.

p Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 Originally from Chi-

cago, Paul had two chil-dren. A religous man, Paul held a master’s degree in business from Florida State University and a theological de-gree.

p Paul Terrell Henry, 41

Originally from La-fayette, Lousiana, Frank Hernandez worked for Calvin Klein.His part-ner Brett Rigas, 30 was struck by a bullet but managed to escape the bar. Frank was lost in the crowd, and later con-firmed to be among the victims.

p Frank Hernandez, 27

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, Ommy to his friends, worked for UPS. He went to the Pulse nightclub with his bud-dy, 25-year-old Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez. Both men were killed in the attack.

p Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22

Juan Guerrero worked as a telemarketer and attended UCF. He had plans to marry his long-time partner Christopher “Drew” Leinonen. They were reported to be slain by the same bullet.

p Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22

WEREMEMBERINMEMORIAM ORLANDO

11

Stanley worked as a pharmacy technician at Avella Specialty Phar-macy. According to his friend Isis Perez, he was known for his quick smile, his fierce gaze, and his ability to charm anyone with his infectious laugh.

p Stanley ManoloAlmodovar III, 23

Amanda went to Pulse nightclub with her best-friend Mercedez Marisol Flores. They took refuge in the bathroom during the attack. Alvear posted a horrifying Snapchat video of the first moments of gunfire erupting at the club. Both she and Flores were killed.

p Amanda Alvear, 25

Oscar lived with his lover Simon A. Carrillo in a home they purchased together last year. The pair had recently re-turned from a vacation to Niagara Falls, and were celebrating their home-coming at Pulse. Both men died in the attack.

p Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26

Rodolfo worked as a biologic assistant at One-Blood Donation Centers. Ironically, OneBlood saw a line-up of donors in the wake of the attack on Pulse nightclub. Rodolfo was originally from San German, Puerto Rico, and sent monthly checks back to the island to help support relatives.

p Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33

Antonio was a Captain in the Army Reserves and was deployed in Kuwait five years ago. He was a 2008 graduate of Flor-ida A&M University. He worked as a Human Re-sources manager at Lowe’s in Fern Park since 2015.

p Antonio Davon Brown, 29

Known for his color-ful bow ties, Darryl wore one to Pulse to celebrate a night on the town in Orlando. He was a finan-cial aid advisor at Keiser University in Jacksonville.

p Darryl Roman Burt II, 29

p Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28

Originally from Puerto Rico, Angel had just re-cently moved to Florida from Chicago. He was only days away from beginning his new career as an oph-thalmic technician at the Florida Retina Institute.

p Luis Daniel Conde, 39

Coupled with partner Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, Luis was happiest when he was providing excel-lent personal care at this hair salon and spa. Luis and Juan died in each other’s arms.

Tevin was the founder and owner of Total En-trepreneurs Concepts, a marketing company in Saginaw, Michigan. He was a graduate of West Iredell High School in Statesville, and studied business at Strayer Uni-versity South in Char-lotte, NC.

p Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25

Cory was a student at Valencia Community College, and was cele-brating his 21st birthday with his girlfriend and a dozen other classmates. He worked at Publix Su-permarket. His girlfriend was wounded in the shooting but is expected to recover.

p Cory James Connell, 21

Anthony Luis Laureano Disla was a born dancer, and spent the evening of Saturday, June 11, on the dance floor at Pulse Nightclub with his two roommates. Anthony was still dancing when shots were fired, hitting him multiple times. His roommates were both critically injured.

pAnthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25

A native of Huicha-pan, Mexico, Juan was a housekeeping supervisor at the Reunion Resorts in Kissimmee. He was the youngest of six children.

p Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 Originally from Chi-

cago, Paul had two chil-dren. A religous man, Paul held a master’s degree in business from Florida State University and a theological de-gree.

p Paul Terrell Henry, 41

Originally from La-fayette, Lousiana, Frank Hernandez worked for Calvin Klein.His part-ner Brett Rigas, 30 was struck by a bullet but managed to escape the bar. Frank was lost in the crowd, and later con-firmed to be among the victims.

p Frank Hernandez, 27

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, Ommy to his friends, worked for UPS. He went to the Pulse nightclub with his bud-dy, 25-year-old Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez. Both men were killed in the attack.

p Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22

Juan Guerrero worked as a telemarketer and attended UCF. He had plans to marry his long-time partner Christopher “Drew” Leinonen. They were reported to be slain by the same bullet.

p Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22

WEREMEMBERINMEMORIAM ORLANDO

p Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32

p Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31Known as DeeDee,

Deonka was working at Pulse Nightclub at the time of the shooting. Originally from Eastover, SC, DeeDee had recently overcome a drug addic-tion and was on proba-tion.

Known on social me-dia as Simon Carrillo, the 31-year-old worked at McDonald’s. Hav-ing just returned from a vacation trip, Simon was celebrating with his partner Oscar A. Aracena-Montero. Both men were killed at the nightclub.

Roy was a self-styled fashionista and singer, who worked as a leas-ing agent at an Orlando apartment complex. Known for his impromp-tu performances, Adele was high on his karaoke charts.

p Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25

After graduating from high school, Mercedez went to work for a Tar-get store in Orlando while studying at Valen-cia Community College. On the night of the mas-sacre at Pulse nightclub, she was with her girl-friend

p Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26

p Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30

Eddie Jamoldroy Jus-tice texted his mother at 2:06 am. “Mommy I love you. In club they shoot-ing.” The accountant wrote he was trapped in a bathroom, like so many of the victims. The police found his body when they finally entered the club nearly three hours later.

p Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40

p Jason Benja-min Josaphat, 19

On social media, Ja-vier went by the name Harvey George Kings, an English translation of his actual name. He worked as a supervisor at the Gucci store in the Mall at Millenia.

An Arizona native, Jason was known for his laugh-loud and dis-tinquishable. When the shooting began in Pulse Nightclub, he called his mother and was told to hide in a stall in the bathroom. His was the last body discovered in the club, shot in his hid-ing place.

p Miguel Angel Honorato, 30

Miguel Angel Honorato was the father of three children. He worked for FajitaMex Mexican Cater-ing in Orlando. He was a fan of Club America–a Liga MX soccer team.

Gilberto, known as Silva Gilbert, came from Manati, Puerto Rico, to study healthcare manage-ment at Ana G Mendez University in Orlando. He worked at a Speedway store. He was together with his best friend, Peter “Ommy” Cruz, who was also killed in the massacre.

p Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25

p Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21

p Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49

Two years ago, Barrios Martinez immigrated from Cuba to Central Florida. The smiling young man was eager to learn Eng-lish, and was frustrated by his inability to speak at the same rapid-fire pace of his mind.

Brenda went to the club with her son Isaiah Henderson, 21. She was a mother of 11 and grand-mother of six. A cancer survivor, she was an out-spoken advocate for LGBT rights. Her gay son Isaiah was not injured.

Drew Leinonen was the son of two police officers. Born in Detroit, Drew moved with his mother to Florida, where he worked as a psycholo-gist in Orlando. Hewas arranging to get married to his long-time partner Juan Ramon Guerrero, who also died in the massacre.

p Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32

p Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35

Always experiment-ing with a new fra-grance, the Puerto Rico-born native worked at the Perfumania, at the Orlando Vineland Premi-um Outlets store. It was there he met his partner, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon. The pair died together during the attack.

A merchandise man-ager at Ross Dress for Less, Eric Ortiz had moved from his native Puerto Rico in search of career advancement and fame. Known for his willingness to lend a helping hand, Eric was shot while attempting to help other escape the carnage at Pulse.

p Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera, 36

p Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32

p Enrique L. Rios Jr, 25

Born in Mexico, Joel Rayon Paniagua moved to Florida in 2000 to advance his life and his career in construction. An avid churchgoer, Joel had lived in Tampa for less than a year.

Enrique had traveled from his hometown of Brooklyn to Orlando to attend a friend’s birthday celebration. In New York, he worked as a social worker for the True Care Home Health Care com-pany in Brooklyn.

WEREMEMBER

INMEMORIAM ORLANDO

14

WEREMEMBER

A native of Dominican Republic, Geraldo had just flown into Orlando from Puerto Rico to at-tend a Selena Gomez concert at the Amway Center. An actor and dancer in San Juan, Ger-aldo went by the name of Drake professionally.

p Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25

KJ Morris came to Or-lando two months ago from Hawaii to help her mother and grandmoth-er who lived locally. She worked as a bouncer at Pulse Nightclub and was the first employee inside the club to confront the shooter.

The youngest victim of the massacre, Akyra Murray was visiting Or-lando celebrating her high school graduation. She texted her family from the bathroom in the club, including her final note that said she had been shot. She died later in the day.

p Akyra Monet Murray, 18

A native of Cleve-land, Luis loved dancing, and particularly on Sat-urday nights at Pulse. He worked at the Orlando Target store.

p Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20

p Kimberly KJ Morris, 37

Dancer/singer Xavier Serrano spent his life en-tertaining others. He had worked at Walt Disney World as well as Norwe-gian Cruise Lines, but re-cently took a job with an Arlo shoe store because the hours were more con-venient to accommodate his 5-year-old son.

p Xavier Emman-uel Serrano Rosado, 35

p Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24

p Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24

An employee of JP Morgan Chase bank, Chris Sanfeliz came from a very close family. “Ev-eryone knows the bond that I had with my broth-er,” Junior Sanfeliz said. “We would finish each other’s sentences, knew each other’s thoughts, and could sense when the other was upset.”

The wife of race-car driver Juan Borges, Yil-mary leaves two children, including a three-month old son Sergio. She was dancing at Pulse with her brother-in-law Wil-liam Borges, who was also shot, but survived the attack.

Jean Carlos was an unassuming, colorful, hard-working friend to the Latin community. A Puerto Rican native, he was always quick to smile. He recently went from working at a local McDonald’s to a new job at a cash-checking store.

p Jean Carlos Nieves Rodriguez, 27

INMEMORIAM ORLANDO

Jonathan Camuy died a hero. When found af-ter the massacre, his body was shielding Yilmary Ro-driguez Solivan, who also died in the shooting. He was a producer of La Voz Kids on Telemundo.

p Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24

A well-known vocal-ist and lead singer of the group Frequency, Shane had just performed at Or-lando’s Blue Martini night-club before stopping by Pulse for a drink. He was large in stature and talent.

Martin Torres from Puerto Rico had recently enrolled at the Tampa campus of Sistema Uni-versitario Ana G. Méndez. He was studying to be a pharmacy technician.

p Martin Benitez Torres, 33

p Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33

A familiar friend to the Next family, Eddie was the brand manager for Al & Chuck Travel, with office across Florida. The first announced victim of the massacre, Eddie is remem-bered for his friendliness and the top-hat he wore to many events.

p Eddie Sotomayor Jr., 34

p Luis S. Vielma, 22

Luis worked as a ride attendant at the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL. Author JK Rawlings paid tribute to him on Twitter.

Born in Puerto Rico, Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez was the oldest victim to die during the Pulse Nightclub massacre. He was a visual merchan-diser at Forever 21.

p Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50

p Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37

t Jerald Arthur Wright, 31

Born in Puerto Rico, Luis came to the US in his early 20s, moving first to Vero Beach, FL. He went on to meet his life part-ner, Juan Carlos Mendez Perez, with whom he died during the Pulse Nightclub massacre.

Jerry Wright worked in mer-chandising on Main Street and Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World. He was at Pulse to cel-ebrate the 21st birthday of friend, Cory James Connell, who also died in the massacre.

Juan Pablo Rivera Velazquez worked at Alta Peluqueria D’Magazine salon in Kissimmee with partner Luis Daniel Conde, who was also killed in the massacre.

p Juan Pablo Rivera Valazquez, 37

15

WEREMEMBER

A native of Dominican Republic, Geraldo had just flown into Orlando from Puerto Rico to at-tend a Selena Gomez concert at the Amway Center. An actor and dancer in San Juan, Ger-aldo went by the name of Drake professionally.

p Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25

KJ Morris came to Or-lando two months ago from Hawaii to help her mother and grandmoth-er who lived locally. She worked as a bouncer at Pulse Nightclub and was the first employee inside the club to confront the shooter.

The youngest victim of the massacre, Akyra Murray was visiting Or-lando celebrating her high school graduation. She texted her family from the bathroom in the club, including her final note that said she had been shot. She died later in the day.

p Akyra Monet Murray, 18

A native of Cleve-land, Luis loved dancing, and particularly on Sat-urday nights at Pulse. He worked at the Orlando Target store.

p Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20

p Kimberly KJ Morris, 37

Dancer/singer Xavier Serrano spent his life en-tertaining others. He had worked at Walt Disney World as well as Norwe-gian Cruise Lines, but re-cently took a job with an Arlo shoe store because the hours were more con-venient to accommodate his 5-year-old son.

p Xavier Emman-uel Serrano Rosado, 35

p Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24

p Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24

An employee of JP Morgan Chase bank, Chris Sanfeliz came from a very close family. “Ev-eryone knows the bond that I had with my broth-er,” Junior Sanfeliz said. “We would finish each other’s sentences, knew each other’s thoughts, and could sense when the other was upset.”

The wife of race-car driver Juan Borges, Yil-mary leaves two children, including a three-month old son Sergio. She was dancing at Pulse with her brother-in-law Wil-liam Borges, who was also shot, but survived the attack.

Jean Carlos was an unassuming, colorful, hard-working friend to the Latin community. A Puerto Rican native, he was always quick to smile. He recently went from working at a local McDonald’s to a new job at a cash-checking store.

p Jean Carlos Nieves Rodriguez, 27

INMEMORIAM ORLANDO

Jonathan Camuy died a hero. When found af-ter the massacre, his body was shielding Yilmary Ro-driguez Solivan, who also died in the shooting. He was a producer of La Voz Kids on Telemundo.

p Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24

A well-known vocal-ist and lead singer of the group Frequency, Shane had just performed at Or-lando’s Blue Martini night-club before stopping by Pulse for a drink. He was large in stature and talent.

Martin Torres from Puerto Rico had recently enrolled at the Tampa campus of Sistema Uni-versitario Ana G. Méndez. He was studying to be a pharmacy technician.

p Martin Benitez Torres, 33

p Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33

A familiar friend to the Next family, Eddie was the brand manager for Al & Chuck Travel, with office across Florida. The first announced victim of the massacre, Eddie is remem-bered for his friendliness and the top-hat he wore to many events.

p Eddie Sotomayor Jr., 34

p Luis S. Vielma, 22

Luis worked as a ride attendant at the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL. Author JK Rawlings paid tribute to him on Twitter.

Born in Puerto Rico, Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez was the oldest victim to die during the Pulse Nightclub massacre. He was a visual merchan-diser at Forever 21.

p Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50

p Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37

t Jerald Arthur Wright, 31

Born in Puerto Rico, Luis came to the US in his early 20s, moving first to Vero Beach, FL. He went on to meet his life part-ner, Juan Carlos Mendez Perez, with whom he died during the Pulse Nightclub massacre.

Jerry Wright worked in mer-chandising on Main Street and Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World. He was at Pulse to cel-ebrate the 21st birthday of friend, Cory James Connell, who also died in the massacre.

Juan Pablo Rivera Velazquez worked at Alta Peluqueria D’Magazine salon in Kissimmee with partner Luis Daniel Conde, who was also killed in the massacre.

p Juan Pablo Rivera Valazquez, 37

29

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