Name: Forgiveness is theme at shooting victim's funeral
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Forgiveness is theme at shooting victim's funeral

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As the choir sang, the unmistakeable sound of sobbing cut in and out, rising above the music Saturday morning in the crowded sanctuary at Holy Rosary Catholic Church.Shooting victim Nathan Trapuzzano's widow, Jennifer, was consoled and supported by family members as she cried throughout her husband's funeral mass.The Rev. Christopher Roberts, who met Trapuzzano while he was attending Ball State University, was the priest at the couple's wedding last year. Saturday, he had the solemn duty of speaking during Trapuzzano's funeral service.Roberts called it "a heart-rending day for all of us."While the grief at Trapuzzano's funeral was palpable, Roberts urged mourners to make forgiveness the focus of the day.Trapuzzano, a 24-year-old computer programmer, and his wife were expecting a baby — a daughter to be named Cecilia — who is due in May. But the life of the young father-to-be was cut tragically short when he was gunned down for no apparent reason early Tuesday on the Westside.Trapuzanno was out on his usual morning walk, heading east on 16th Street not far from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he was attacked by two men, one of whom appeared to act as a lookout while the other forced Trapuzzano between two businesses. Trapuzzano and one of the suspects engaged in a struggle, during which Trapuzzano was shot in the abdomen.Trapuzzano was found in the parking lot of Tron Tire Shop, located in the 3500 block of West 16th Street, shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday and was transported to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition. He died at 7:40 a.m.Video footage from the tire shop shows one suspect fleeing northeast across West 16th Street and the other attacker, believed to have been the shooter, fleeing west on 16th Street. Police are searching for the two suspects.No arrests have been made in the killing, which came during a spurt of killings that have put the city on pace to surpass its 2013 homicide total — 142 — its highest in seven years. As of Saturday afternoon, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department had recorded 42 homicides, including three that happened overnight Friday.In the wake of Trapuzzano's slaying, Roberts said mourners could easily choose to focus on stories about his love for his wife and unborn daughter, his intelligence or his "deceivingly keen sense of humor."Instead, Roberts encouraged them to instead focus on forgiveness.It's what Trapuzzano would have wanted, he said, citing what he thinks Trapuzzano's last thoughts might have been."I have no doubt that Nathan forgave his murderers," Roberts said. "That was the type of man that I knew him to be."Trapuzzano's capacity for love and forgiveness is just one of the virtues that Roberts and others who knew him have praised.Some of those who knew Trapuzzano — and many more who had never met him or his family — have donated to an online fundraising page that Chelsea Ransom, a cousin of Jennifer Trapuzzano, set up on gofundme.com the same day Trapuzzano was killed.The goal was to raise $100,000 to help pay for funeral expenses and start a fund for Cecilia. In the first day the page was up, more than 2,000 people donated a total of more than $114,000.Four hours after the Saturday funeral, the donations totaled almost $140,000. And the donations continue to climb.Star reporters Diana Penner, Jill Disis and Justin L. Mack contributed to this story.Call Star reporter Megan Banta at (317) 444-6125. Follow her on Twitter: @MeganBanta2.

As the choir sang, the unmistakeable sound of sobbing cut in and out, rising above the music Saturday morning in the crowded sanctuary at Holy Rosary Catholic Church.Shooting victim Nathan Trapuzzano's widow, Jennifer, was consoled and supported by family members as she cried throughout her husband's funeral mass.The Rev. Christopher Roberts, who met Trapuzzano while he was attending Ball State University, was the priest at the couple's wedding last year. Saturday, he had the solemn duty of speaking during Trapuzzano's funeral service.Roberts called it "a heart-rending day for all of...

Forgiveness is theme at shooting victim's funeral

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