Assist Jacqueline's Family with Funeral and Legal Expenses

On February 17th at 1:30am my oldest sister, Jacqueline Barragan, was declared deceased at the scene of her home.

That morning around 6:40am I was contacted by my older brother Albert that Jacqueline’s home had caught on fire. After the call, we carpooled to the scene of the incident and walked through it to see the damage ourselves. We could see through our truck window that the front of the house was stained by smoke that exited the front door, and the roof was visibly caved in. Once inside, I had to stop myself in what used to be the hallway from going further into the property out of fear that the integrity of the roof was unsafe. The floor was covered with what had been the attic soaked in fire retardant. My shoes sunk into the material and the inside of the home was covered in smoke. My brother continued forward and saw the only surviving rooms were the kitchen and living room.

After having left my sister’s home, we drove to the fire department and asked questions regarding the incident. My brother and I drove to the following locations: fire department, police department and the coroner’s office, all of which were closed to the public in observance of President’s Day. After being struck with closed doors, it was my brother’s instinct to head back to the property and see if we could speak with neighbors about any information they could share. Thankfully, we were able to speak with two neighbors who informed us the fire started at 9:00pm Sunday, February 16th and was called in around midnight by a local resident who had been heading home from a party. The fire was not extinguished until roughly one in the morning. One neighbor had walked up and offered their condolences on behalf of the family pet. With our spirits lifted, we had hopes that our sister would survive and almost immediately a neighbor informed us a body was retrieved from the house. My heart sank because I knew I would need to reach out to my sister’s only child, Emmy, that her mother had passed away.

The next portion is Emmy’s account of that morning:

“I received a text message from my aunt stating: ‘Emmy it’s Lucy. Call me when you can.’ after having missed her call. Coincidentally, the father of my children had tried to contact me stating an uncle was trying to reach me. I was in the process of getting ready to go on a hike and disclosed to my friends I needed to tend to a family matter. I walked upstairs into an empty room and dialed my aunt: she answered immediately and began the conversation by apologizing. In 2022, I received a similar call from my mother when my aunt Patricia passed. I knew instantly that my mother had died and proceeded to tell Lucy it was okay, and she had nothing to apologize for. I walked downstairs and attempted to keep myself composed as I shared the news with my friends. I am grateful that I was with good company, I firmly believe I would have fallen to the floor heart broken and shattered. Later that day, I was able to walk through my mother’s property in search of any surviving family photos. Thankfully, my dear friend discovered in the debris a partial family album soaked and hidden under remnants of the roof. I also came across a small box of framed family photos tucked away in a box inside the smoke-filled living room. These are the fragments of my childhood and mother that I have left to share with my daughters as they grow.”

Since the news, our family is learning to navigate all the legal proceedings regarding her home and death which is a pending three-part investigation. The investigation is a collaboration between the fire department, the police department and the coroner’s office. The investigation is roughly going to take 8 to 12 weeks, and we will not receive any new information until the case is solved and closed.

We would like to fundraise any costs regarding her funeral services and prepare my niece legally for this following year. As a family, we are learning that to have access to any of my sister’s assets we would need to file for probate, which will take up to 9 months to a year through the court. As a rough estimate, we are looking at a potential 7 thousand for funeral expenses and 3 thousand for pending legal fees.

We are reaching out to our family, friends and community for support during this complicated time. If you are unable to donate financially, please consider sharing this page to help us reach others who may wish to offer their support. Thank you for your kindness, generosity and love.

With love and gratitude,

The Barragan, Sunga and Rodriguez family.