Chicago Sun-Times

‘It’s senseless, senseless’

Visitation for man allegedly killed in game

- BY KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com

He was the patriarch — the man they owed their life in America to.

Under any circumstan­ces, Delfino Mora’s wake would have been a sad and difficult time for his 12 children, 23 grandchild­ren and countless nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

But prosecutor’s allegation­s that the disabled 62-year-old Mexican immigrant was callously killed on camera in a teenage gangbanger’s sick game made Tuesday’s visitation almost unbearable.

“It’s senseless, senseless,” said Mora’s son Jose Mora, 25, as dozens of relatives dressed in black paid their respects at Caribe Funeral Home, 3314 W. Armitage. “If they’re killing people for a game now, what does the future hold?”

Laid out in a gray open coffin, Delfino Mora still bore the marks of the deadly early morning attack that claimed his life July 10. Stitches were clearly visible across a gash on the right side of his forehead, and half his hair was shaved off where surgeons at St. Francis Hospital had unsuccessf­ully tried to save him.

Prosecutor­s allege Malik Jones, 16, Nicholas Ayala, 17, and Anthony Malcolm, 18, were playing a game called “Pick ’em out, knock ’em out” when they killed Mora while he collected soda cans in the alley of the 6300 block of South Artesian.

Malcolm used Jones’ cellphone to film Jones as he punched Mora in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground, and the three taped themselves as they laughed at the unconsciou­s man and stole $60 from his wallet, prosecutor­s said. The video was posted on Jones’ Facebook page, leading to the arrest of the three teens’ arrest and first-degree murder charges.

At Tuesday’s wake, Mora’s sister Theresa led mourners in prayer and songs of loss before Mora’s wife of 40 years, Maria Carmen, collapsed in grief.

The sons and daughters she raised with Mora in West Rogers Park after emigrating in the 1980s from Michoacan, Mexico, hugged and tried to console her, but she was inconsolab­le and soon her cries of sorrow spread, reducing everyone to tears.

Several relatives were so distraught that they had to be helped back to their feet after kneeling beside the coffin. Mora, a talented guitarist and joker, performed in a Ranchera band called Los Coralillos. Musicians played the ranchera music he loved as hundreds of mourners packed into the funeral home.

“I don’t have the words,” Jose Mora said. “He was the head of the family, the first among us to come here.”

Some family members were seeking medical help for the distress his father’s death has caused, he added.

“It’s just so hard.”

 ??  ?? Mourners arrive for Delfino Mora’s visitation Tuesday.
| SCOTT STEWART~SUN-TIMES
Mourners arrive for Delfino Mora’s visitation Tuesday. | SCOTT STEWART~SUN-TIMES
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 ??  ?? Delfino Mora
Delfino Mora

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