A year after the Annapolis shooting that left three dead, tears still flow easily

One year, 365 days. It's not enough to heal when someone you love is shot and killed.

Three families, united by blood, friendship and deadly violence, have spent 12 months since June 11, 2023 trying to make sense of something unthinkable: life without sons, without husbands, without brothers.

When Harcinia Ruiz talks about her son Mario Mireles, she wipes her tears with a crumpled tissue. “He was such a good boy,” she said. “He was such a good boy.”

Sandra Mireles-Perez looks away and closes her eyes when a conversation about the death of her husband, Nicolas Mireles, and the resilience of her eight children turns to her.

“It really hurts her to remember,” the translator said, referring to Mireles-Perez, who was also Mario's stepmother.

Christian and Marianella Segovia, who lost a son, accuse Gov. Wes Moore and others in government of not doing enough to fulfill their promise of aid. But their eyes soften and anger turns to regret when they talk about their 7-year-old grandson. He now lives with his mother and no longer wants to visit the home they once shared now that his father, Christian Segovia, is gone forever.

“We lost two people,” Marianella said. “We really feel alone.”

On Tuesday at 5 p.m., some of those survivors will walk together from Lawyers Mall to the City Dock in downtown Annapolis, where they will hold a vigil to remember the life of Mario Mireles Ruiz, 27, of Annapolis, his father Nicolas Mireles, 55, of Odenton and their friend Christian Segovia Jr., 24, of Severn. They want to bring attention to what has been lost and want something more.

“What we really want is justice,” said Judith Abundez, Mario’s fiancée.

The three men died and three other people were injured on the night of June 11, 2023, in what police believe was an outburst of violence by a man living with his mother near the Ruiz home. It was a tragic end to a celebration for a network of families and friends in the Annapolis Latino community.

Police say it stems from a dispute over parking on Paddington Place, the latest of many disagreements between members of the Ruiz family and neighbor Charles Robert Smith. The families say it was more than that: Hatred was directed at the victims because their families are from Mexico, El Salvador and Peru.

“The way I look at it, as a Latino business owner, is that Annapolis, in every way, is better than what happened,” said Roxana Rodriguez, owner from a restaurant about a mile from the shooting. “It's a tragedy.”

Police say Mario Mireles Ruiz went to their neighbors' house to discuss parking when he was confronted by Smith. There was an argument, then a fight.

Smith pulled out a gun and shot Mario Mireles Ruiz and Christian Segovia, Jr., police said in charging documents, then entered his home, set up a rifle and fired from his front window at those who came to help him. Mario's father, Nicolas, was killed and three others injured.

Annapolis police arrived and Smith surrendered.

Children who had attended the party were kept there by police until late at night, and some were able to view the bodies from the courtyard of a house where they had celebrated the party hours earlier.

There was a press conference that evening, then another the next day. Families held a vigil at City Dock and met with the governor.

Some received financial and other assistance through Social Security or the National Crime Prevention and Policy Office. Others, because they had not completed the administrative formalities or had not obtained the required qualifications, received no official assistance.

” Governor. “More takes tragedies like this seriously, which is why he takes it upon himself to visit individually with families involved in horrific events like those that took place in Annapolis last year,” said a spokesperson for the governor.

And then, for most of us, life moved on.

There's another shooting, another scandal. Life is busy and we simply forget about it because the bullets didn't hit our families.

Smith, who is white, is in the Jennifer Road County Jail, charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and hate crimes. The trial is now scheduled for early next year.

Highs and lows. A year after the shooting deaths, the families have all experienced them.

“I had good days and bad days,” said Judith Abundez, who was pregnant with the couple's second child at the time of Mario's death. He will be 1 year old in September. “Me and the boys.”

Good days include when neighbor Cynthia Krewson called Harcinia Ruiz and suggested she repaint one of the welcome signs at the end of the street where Mario grew up and died from “Wilshire” to “Mireles.” And they did.

The bad days are when Ruiz considers selling her house, leaving behind the memories of Mario's absence – and the house where the man accused of his murder lived.

Smith's mother, Shirley Smith, does not live on the street full time, Ruiz said, but a man works at the home regularly.

Sometimes Ruiz thinks he's watching her.

“I stopped working because I was too depressed,” she said. “It’s too much. I have cancer. My son is dead. It was too much.

Good day. Annapolis Hope, Guadalupe Ministry, Naptown Scoop publisher Ryan Sneddon and others are raising money to help Mireles-Perez buy the house in Odenton, where she lives with her children. The owner had agreed to sell it to her late husband.

After the mass shooting, the owner lowered the price to $247,000, about $10,000 less than its value, if the family can raise the funds by August.

A fundraising cruise aboard the skipjack Wilma Lee is planned for Tuesday, the same day as the vigil. Other events are planned.

“A lot of volunteers and other organizations in Annapolis are really helping us and we have almost $140,000 right now,” said Susy Cruz, who works at Guadalupe Ministry, part of St. Mary Church in Annapolis. “Our goal is, in June and July, to get the rest of the money. We'll close the deal.

And bad. Lawyers representing Smith, 44, pointed to his record of service in the military and said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

They also raised the possibility of shifting blame as a defense, saying without evidence at a court hearing that some of the victims may have had gang ties.

“It was extremely offensive to us,” said Christian Segovia, Christian's father. “Because we are Hispanic, we are gang members? Even the lawyer was racist.

“That’s because we have tattoos,” Marianella Segovia said, pointing to the rose on her forearm. “Everyone has tattoos.”

Families are together. They want men to be remembered for their lives, not their deaths.

Mario Mireles Ruiz and Nicolas Mireles owned their own small business, and Christian Segovia Jr. was finishing school to become a mechanic.

“I just want them to never be forgotten,” said Nelcy Goss, Mario’s sister and organizer of Tuesday’s vigil. “I wanted journalists there. I wanted it to be on TV so people could see it. And I plan to do it every year. I never want anyone to forget them.

Goss joined her mother, husband and son; Mario's fiancée and their sons; and brothers, sisters and many young children at Mireles on Thursday. They seemed happy for the moment.

And they are separated.

The Segovias said they were unaware of the vigil or Spanish-language mass that would follow at St. John Neumann Catholic Church until last weekend, and Mireles-Perez is unlikely to attends because there is no one to take care of her children.

A school bus driver who works mostly around Fort Meade, Marianella Segovia avoids the Annapolis neighborhood where her son died. Christian Segovia wonders how his son will be remembered.

“Where is the sign for Segovia?” he asks.

A year. Maybe it's too early to look for something, anything good that can come from a violent loss of life. But there are signs.

The Moore administration won passage of a bill that will remove many limits on state aid to crime victims when it takes effect in 2025, such as a rule banning financial aid to people benefiting from private fundraising.

Gun violence is down in Annapolis, as it is in Baltimore.

And maybe the shootings, vigils and fundraisers will be a catalyst for Annapolis' Latino community.

“Maybe this will make us feel like we can support each other,” Rodriguez said.