Â
Eddie Pieron was one of those people that always lit up a room with token phrases like “chicka chicka yeah” and his big smile, friends said.
Pieron was going to be starting his senior year at the University of Miami when he was found murdered in his South Miami home on July 5, the day after his 21st birthday.
It was a shock that left his friends and relatives devastated.
“Eddie always had a smile on his face,” said Zack Prusoff, a former University of Miami student and one of Pieron’s close friends. “He was a special guy and I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
Pieron’s funeral was held in his hometown of Woodland Hills, Calif. As a result, many of his friends from the University of Miami could not attend.
Therefore his friends decided to throw a memorial service here at the university to commemorate their friend and say their final goodbyes.
The memorial service will be taking place on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Gifford Arboretum, which is located on the northwest corner of campus near the Knight Physics Building.
Laura Needham, a senior, was one of Pieron’s friends that put together this memorial service.
“We could not get any closure that we would have gotten with the funeral,” Needham said. “This is a way for us to come together and say our last words to Eddie.”
Anyone may attend and all are urged to bring photographs. There will also be an open microphone where people can share their thoughts and memories they have of Pieron.
There will be a special guest in attendance that will make the evening a little more sentimental.
“We are finally going to get to meet his mom,” Needham said. “It will be great that she will get to see the love people had for him down here.”
The service will be held at the arboretum because, according to Needham, “Eddie loved nature and being outdoors and what a beautiful place to honor his life.”
Friends and family of Pieron are thrilled that this memorial service is finally taking place.
“I am flying from New York just to attend and, since I missed the funeral, I am happy there is another way I could say bye to Eddie,” Prusoff said.
Pieron affected the lives of the people around him in a profound way.
Aimee Suthers, one of Pieron’s close friends and a former roommate, described Pieron as “one of the only people I have found in Miami who truly understood empathy and what it meant to be a good person.”
Friends have not been able to fully cope with their grieving because it has been four months since Pieron’s death and Miami-Dade police have yet to find his murderers or make any arrests.
“It is an open and active investigation and we cannot release any information at this time,” said Aida Fina’Millian, a detective with the media relations bureau of the Miami-Dade Police.
And with the police keeping quiet, his friends feel the memorial service will help relieve some of the pain.
“We can’t bring him back, we are still waiting on conclusiveness from the detectives, so this is as close as we can get to helping people deal,” Suthers said.
Police are urging anybody who has any information on Pieron’s death to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. All calls are completely anonymous.
A Facebook group called “Remembering Eddie Pieron” was created just a couple days after his death to commemorate and share memories of their lost friend.
There are over 300 members in the group and this is where the idea of creating a memorial service was established.
Needham was one of the first people to post a message urging everyone to get together and create a memorial service. Her idea has finally become a reality and Pieron’s friends could not be more thrilled.
“We are so happy that we finally have a chance to say our goodbyes and, especially, celebrate Eddie’s life,” Needham said.
Gifford Arboretum: