CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — The family of 17-year-old Angelina Pacheco is speaking out days after her body was found outside a Conway church.
Angelina’s friends and family gathered this weekend at the exact location her body was found to place flowers and other gifts in her memory. They tell News13, while they want justice to be served, her death never should have happened.
“He should’ve never left her knowing that she needed some sort of help,” Christinna Furfari, Angelina Pacheco’s aunt, said.
Pacheco was found dead last Wednesday morning outside of Coastal Community Church in Conway. According to police, she died the night before and her body was left there.
“This has been really horrible for us,” Furfari said. “A lot of people are losing their minds because you’re talking about a child, a minor.”
Angelina’s family described her as a very bright and intelligent girl. They said there was so much she wanted to accomplish and is now unable to.
“Now, we have to suffer at this point saying to ourselves, we’re never gonna see her get married, we’re never gonna see her walk down the aisle, we’re never gonna see her go to prom,” Furfari said.
Conway police arrested and charged 19-year-old Chandler Richardson with involuntary manslaughter. According to police reports, he was driving a vehicle when an incident happened and allegedly failed to help Pacheco, who died as a result.
“He could’ve took her to the house and [sought] medical attention immediately right then and there. And not only that, though, but less than two blocks from her own house,” she said.
Richardson has since been released from J. Reuben Long detention center on a $30,000 bond. Pacheco’s family said that isn’t the outcome they had hoped for.
“We’re very, very disgusted right now,” Furfari said. “We all say justice needs to be served no matter what.”
A GoFundMe account has been created by Pacheco’s family to help pay for her funeral expenses, and they said any donation will go a long way toward giving Angelina the proper service she deserves.
