HARTFORD, Conn. — The Diaz family has maintained a vigil on Winship Street since 2019. They were there to pray on Thursday. The following day, Hartford police arrested a man who lived steps away on the same street.
On the 22nd of every month, the Diaz family visits Winship Street to pray for Justice.
“In a city where we have lots of absent fathers, Eros was a present one,” his former partner Marielys Santos of West Hartford said. “This is just something that happens in Hartford people never get justice, so I started to lose faith”
Eros Diaz was sitting in a car when he and a friend were shot here in 2019. His friend survived.
Diaz never made it home to sons Carter and Eros Jr.
The arrest is bittersweet for the family. Jay Diaz knew someone in this community was responsible but he knew he needed the community to speak up to get justice, so he scheduled a meeting after meeting with police, and attorneys put up billboards across the Capital City, and cobbled together a $500,000 reward for information.
“Like the protector. He was always there for everyone, right? And we knew that we had to be relentless,” Jay Diaz said. “We had to wait for the wheels of justice to catch up.”
Detectives caught up with 36-year-old Geno McMahaon Friday—charging him with first-degree murder and gun possession. He had been living on Winship Street where Eros was killed.
"It’s always that one piece of evidence that shred or that witness that comes forward that can solve these cases, so great job to the community for getting us information we need," Lt. Aaron Boisvert said on Tuesday.
McMahaon’s arrest is an answered prayer for the Diaz family.
“It brings so much peace to my heart and closure because I’ve been praying for this moment,” Santos said.
But the fight for justice is far from over. The family vows to be present each time McMahaon appears in court and pushes for the max sentence.
“It shouldn’t have taken to this point to get justice and a lot of it is the community does not want involved and I think they need to get involved,” Jay Diaz said.
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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