They were inseparable, from the cradle until the grave.
The Staten Island mother and son shot to death outside their apartment complex were remembered as a selfless and devoted duo during an emotional Wednesday funeral at the Brooklyn Funeral Home.
Mourners expressed anger at Anthony Morales, who killed Idelle Rivera, 47, and her son, Anthony, 21, in a dispute over money.
Anthony and Idelle Rivera were shot dead outside of the Mariners Harbor Houses complex in Staten Island.
Morales was captured after a gunfight with cops in Pennsylvania.
“There’s a void in our hearts, especially knowing the way in which this happened,” Varela said in Spanish. “We are living in a time where we are losing respect for humanity.
“Today, anyone can rip away someone’s life over an issue that, in the old days, would had been resolved differently,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to lose a son, and a wife this way, at the same time.”
The deacon stood before the two open caskets surrounded by a heart-shaped flower arrangement and photos of both victims in happier family times.
He addressed the victims’ inconsolable father and husband, Anthony Pena, 56, sitting in the front row.
“Tony, don’t let your heart be consumed with revenge,” the deacon said as relatives hugged a sobbing Pena. “Let God take care of justice. God’s already enacting justice.
“You will reunite with them. And when that time comes, they will be waiting for you with open arms.”
Pena’s oldest sister, Carmen Klatt, 58, said she remembers Idelle’s fierce maternal instinct.
“Her son was her light, her love,” Klatt said. “She never left his side. And she left with him. At the time of their death, she held his hand and walked on to Heaven.”
Idelle’s younger sister, Rochelle Rivera, 31, said she’s trying to stay strong to keep the extended family together.
“I think that I cried so much that I don’t have any more tears left,” Rivera said. “When you get a phone call like that, it’s so hard.”
She hopes her sister’s killer realizes the pain he’s caused.
“I don't want him to die,” she said. “I want him to suffer, just like we are suffering. "I want justice. God’s already making sure justice is done.”
They were buried at Christ Church Cemetery in South Amboy, N.J.
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