PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Family members held a vigil Saturday for the 83-year-old man who died after he was brutally beaten and bound in his Hunting Park home on New Year's Eve. His killers are still on the loose and his family is demanding justice.
"He was a great family man. He was a father of 10 beautiful children, a grandfather to 20 children and a great-grandfather to four," said Geo Gesmundo of his father, Mauricio.
With sullen faces and teary eyes, family members wearing shirts that read #JusticeforMauricio prayed in front of Mauricio Gesmundo's home, the same place where he was viciously attacked. It's also the same neighborhood where Gesmundo said he was adored by everyone and he was the person neighbors went to for help.
"Everyone came to him for help whether it is a loan to get through the week, for groceries," he said. "He took people to their doctor's appointments."
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Gesmundo said his family is angry and broken. They've raised $10,000 in addition to the police department's $20,0000 reward to help incentivize people to speak up and help find his killers.
"He suffered enough and now we just want justice, and we're not going to stop until we get it," he said.
The family is begging anyone who may have seen anything to contact the police.
"It was New Year's Eve," said Gesmundo. "I'm pretty sure someone knows who did this to him."