Orlando: Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22, and his 32-year-old boyfriend, Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, were among the 49 people who got killed
in the worst massacre targeting the LGBT community in Orlando this Sunday.
The couple was deeply in love and planned to marry someday. However, there was something else in store for them. Their families are
now planning to have their funeral with the two being side by side.
“I think my son wanted to do that. That’s why,” said Guerrero’s father, who has the same name as his son. “I don’t care what the
people think. I don’t care,” the elder Juan Ramon Guerrero, 61, said with a heavy heart.
“I lost part of my life,” he added.
“If it’s not a funeral, they were going to have a wedding together,” Aryam Guerrero, the victim’s 24-year-old sister, told TIME.
“They were honestly so in love. They were soul mates. You can tell by how they looked at each other,” she said. “It’s a little
comforting that they died together.”
The younger Guerrero had just finished his first year studying at the University of Central Florida after spending two years at a
community college. He wanted to be a financial advisor. So were his dreams that were shattered after the incident.
“He was so much love and light,” Aryam Guerrero said.
Leinonen’s death was confirmed Monday afternoon on the city of Orlando’s official website which issued a list of the deceased.
Apparently, the idea to have a joint funeral was from his mother, Christine Leinonen, Guerrero’s family said.
The moment they learned about the incident, they rushed to the hospital only to find a sheet of paper with about nine names of
victims, including Juan Ramon Guerrero.
Juan Ramon Guerrero was turning 23 in a couple of days. His family still plans on celebrating his birthday, his father said. “My wife
will cook all the food he likes,” he said. “He was a beautiful kid, a hard worker, friendly, sweet person.”
