THE MURDER OF A 9-YEAR OLD GIRL, TRINITY LOVE JONES

 THE MURDER OF A 9-YEAR OLD GIRL, TRINITY LOVE JONES

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

On March 31, 2019, a funeral Mass was held in St. John Vianney Catholic Church, Hacienda Heights, California, for a little angel girl named Trinity Love Jones. She was 9 years when she was killed, and her body wrapped in a duffle bag and dumped at the bottom of a hill close to a Buddhist Temple, and just four miles away from St. John Vianney Catholic Church. Her lifeless body was discovered by the Los Angeles County workers who were doing maintenance work around the area (Hacienda Boulevard ) her body was found. 

Upon hearing the news, the Buddhists immediately invited religious leaders from around the city to a communal prayer service for Trinity Love Jones at their Temple. After that, St. John Vianney Catholic Community also had a “Memorial of Light” service that brought together Catholics, Baptists, and Buddhists. The service was conducted by a Catholic priest, a Baptist minister, and a Buddhist monk. Six days after the celebration of the memorial service, St. John Vianney Catholic Church dedicated a permanent shrine to the murdered girl. The shrine has an oversized photo of a smiling Trinity with 75 lighted candles, two large baskets of white flowers on each side. When the time came for the family to plan a funeral and burial, a female parishioner of St. John Vianney contacted a Catholic funeral home, paid for the funeral and Trinity’s casket. The same parishioners also solicited food donations from nearby restaurants in order to feed those expected for the funeral reception.  

After some weeks, tipsters led the County prosecutors to locate and file murder charges against the girl’s 28-year old mother, as well as her 38-year old boyfriend. They are being accused of murdering Trinity Love Jone on or about March 1, 2019. 

Now, the family of the angel girl, Trinity Love Jones, don’t live anywhere near where her body was found lifeless; they are not even Catholics or Buddhists. They are Baptists. Yet, her death brought the whole community together to mourn and celebrate an unknown little girl whose life was snuffed out from her. For Catholics and Baptists, the tragic death of Trinity Love Jones is another reminder that resurrection is real. For the whole community, although the murder of Trinity Love is a reminder of the ugly presence of evil, in the end the outpouring of love and prayer for Trinity, support for her grand-mother, and other members of the family who were present at her funeral demonstrates that EVIL DID NOT WIN! Trinity Love wasn’t Catholic, but she was given a Catholic funeral. She was not Catholic, but she was buried in a Catholic cemetery. She was not from Hacienda Heights, and not even around any of towns around, yet, the whole community and its environs came out for her. In life, she was unknown, but not anymore. In life, her picture was only seen by a few, but now her picture hangs on a holy shrine in a Catholic Church. In life, Trinity Love Jones was homeless with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend (they lived in a family car), but now she has a home. She lives in the paradise of the Almighty Father, Wonderful Jesus, and Excellent Holy Spirit. 

Like I said before, a permanent shrine was dedicated and blessed in honor of Trinity Love Jones. Today, (April 17, 2019), I went to St. John Vianney Catholic Church, which is 8 miles away from my parish to pray for the little angel, Trinity Love Jones. I prayed for her soul to rest in peace. I prayed for the members of her family to find healing. I prayed for the protection/safety of children and for the end of this kind of murder. I also asked the angel, Trinity Love Jones to pray for me for I believe she is in heaven. 

Wickedness will never win!

Evil will never win!

Inhumanity will never win!

Let’s protect the little ones and the most vulnerable among us!

Rest in peace, child of God, Trinity Love Jones!