HOWARD BEACH — A Queens woman murdered last week while out for a run in marshland by her home was remembered Saturday as a caring, loving and “gregarious warrior” whose death should inspire love and not hate, mourners said.
Neighbors tied white ribbons to poles around St. Helen's Church in Howard Beach, where Karina Vetrano's casket was brought in flanked by two lines of saluting firefighters in support of her father, Philip, who is retired from the FDNY.
“She did it all,” her father said during the funeral, calling her his “bright, shining star.”
Vetrano's mom, Cathy, read a poem she had written for her daughter on a retreat in high school, rattling off a list of words that she felt described her best — resilient, powerful, and caring.
“Your breath, it sustains me, far more than you know,” she said to mourners, who were packed into the church. “Karina, my baby, you shine and you glow.”
Vetrano was a speech pathologist who also worked at a local restaurant and lounge. She traveled to the South of France in July to celebrate her 30th birthday, and lived her life fully, friends said.
An avid runner, Vetrano went out Tuesday evening alone in the marshy woods behind her house, on trails she frequented with her father, police said. He couldn’t make the run that night, and when she didn’t return after a few hours, he called the police.
Philip Vetrano was with the police when they found her body a few feet from the trail, with signs of physical and sexual assault, police said.
Cathy Vetrano stands by her daughter's casket outside St. Helen's in Howard Beach. (DNAinfo/Katie Honan)
White ribbons were tied on poles around St. Helen's Church before the funeral of Karina Vetrano. (DNAinfo/Katie Honan)
Father Francis Colamaria also spoke at the funeral, borrowing from Vetrano’s own published poems and essays, as well as words she posted on her bedroom wall as inspiration.
She had “SELF RESPECT” posted to her wall, with each letter representing different words: “Set goals, Exercise, Love yourself, Focus on Fitness,” Colamaria said. She wanted to enjoy life and care for others, he said.
"Karina, a bright light, had a smile, an energy, a presence that could light up a room," he said. "In fact, one that could light up your very life."
As police still search for her killer, Colamaria urged the community of Howard Beach to remain peaceful and hopeful in her memory.
“Those who speak with words of hate or words of vengeance, those words do nothing to honor the life of Karina,” he said. He used her own words — “Care for others, smile, portray the positive” — to counter anything that he said spreads “fear and discontentment.”
And while many have asked that the weeds where Vetrano was murdered be “burned to the ground,” Colamaria said they should turn it into a beautiful and safe place for children.
He reserved his only words of anger for the “animal” who killed Vetrano, saying he will face God’s judgment and vengeance.
“And he knows who he is,” he told those in the church.
