Santo Domingo.- With deep sorrow, family, friends, and neighbors said goodbye this Sunday to basketball player Yeury Rodríguez Batista, 30, whose remains are being waked at the municipal funeral home in Villa Carmen, after losing his life during a robbery that occurred in the San Carlos sector of the National District.
According to preliminary information, Rodríguez Batista was shot twice on Benito González Street, near the San Carlos Club, while helping a friend install music in a vehicle they were preparing to use to celebrate Father’s Day. During the assault, the attackers also stripped him of a chain.
In the midst of the wake, his father remembered him as a hardworking young man, loved by the entire community and with a desire for self-improvement. Through tears, he asked that those responsible be brought to justice.
“My son was a cheerful boy, loved by everyone, who wanted to get ahead. My son is already lost, but let the Police do their job and let whoever did this pay for what they did,” he/she expressed.
Yeury’s friends agreed in describing him as a humble, supportive person who was passionate about sports, whose death has left a deep void in the San Carlos sector.
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“He was a wonderful, humble, respectful person and an athlete. Today the neighborhood is in mourning, as are many other sectors, because everyone knew him,” stated his friend Frank Carlos.
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Another one of his close associates, José Castillo, stated that the community has yet to come to terms with the tragedy and recalled the gestures of solidarity that characterized the young man.
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“He was a very humble kid, with a good heart. He was always willing to help others. The only thing we ask for is justice,” he maintained.
His cousin also evoked Rodríguez Batista’s sports career, noting that after leaving baseball, he found his true passion in basketball, going on to represent the San Carlos Club on multiple occasions. He defined him as a family man, hardworking and respected by those who knew him.
As investigations continue to identify and capture those responsible for the crime, family and friends insist that the case must not go unpunished and hope that the authorities manage to achieve justice for the death of someone they describe as “a good human being” and a source of pride for their community.
