http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 59890.html


Sept. 3, 2006, 11:31AM
Hundreds honor carjacking victim
Family, friends celebrate her life at farewell Mass

By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and JENNIFER LEAHY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Family and friends of 23-year-old Jeanette Gonzales, who died following injuries in a carjacking, gathered Saturday to celebrate her life with a farewell Mass.

Gonzales, known by many as "Janeth," was remembered for her kind nature and devotion to her family by the hundreds of friends and family who packed Notre Dame Catholic Church on Boone Road.
Click to learn more...

Her father expressed the desire that her death spur people to "unite as a community and take action" to create a safer community.

"Jeanette was not another wasted life. To me, she was sacrificed so that others may live. How many more victims would have died if the perpetrators were not caught?" said Alejandro Gonzales.

Juan Carlos Molina, 24, has been charged with capital murder in the 174th state District Court, said Houston Police Department spokesman Alvin Wright. He is being held without bail.

Gonzales was driving her 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse Aug. 27 when she was carjacked on the way to meet friends at a teahouse after attending church services. Witnesses reported seeing her either thrown or jumping from the vehicle at Westheimer and Kirkwood. She died Monday.

Molina was arrested Tuesday by Houston police on a probation violation related to a narcotics conviction, Wright said. Molina and an unnamed woman had been videotaped Monday by a store surveillance camera at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on State Highway 6, Wright said.

"She had a really big heart," said her brother Jeff Gonzales.

"She was also really funny and would say all kinds of things in public to try to embarrass me. Now that she's gone I'll miss that," he said.

The Houston Community College student hoped to return to her native Philippines after receiving her nursing degree. She regularly attended church services and loved karaoke and billiards. The oldest of five children, she had two brothers and twin 13-year-old sisters.

She often told her youngest brother Justin, 16, to "take a shower and brush your teeth.

"I really will miss that, even though I didn't like it when she told me I was stinky," Justin said. "I hope that they convict that guy. She was a good girl."

anne.kilday@chron.com

jennifer.leahy@chron.com