Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49, was shot dead by Omar Mateen at Pulse nightclub as she tried to protect her 21-year-old son Isaiah Henderson, who is gay.
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Sister-in-law Ada Pressley said earlier that on the night of the shooting, the mom saw the gunman shoot down others, and then turn his weapon towards her and her son Isaiah Henderson.
According to several accounts, McCool told her son to get down as soon as the shots rang out and possibly even shielded him from the gunfire before telling him to get out.
“I just want to say that my mom was the best mother ever and I never thought her life would be ended right in front of my eyes”, he said.
Isaiah tried to explain all of this during his eulogy at her funeral on Monday at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, but it was hard as he choked on his tears. Henderson recounted how he used to wrestle with his mother.
“I haven’t stopped crying since this happened”, Henderson said.
Robert Pressley Jr., another one of Marquez-McCool’s sons, joined his friends near the altar and sang a tribute to his mother, at times pulling the microphone away from his mouth and holding down his head as he struggled to finish the song through tears.
“I love you so much, mom”.
“I just want to say my mom was the best mom out there”. I obviously lost. She’s a linebacker.
It was her selflessness and valor that inspired Mayor Buddy Dyer to declare June 20 a city-wide day of mourning for McCool in a resolution that he read from the pulpit.
McCool’s brother Michael Marquez, Jr. honored that wish, saying during her funeral that while her death has left a huge hole in his heart, he knew that there would be more dancing in heaven now. So, twice, her 11 children breathed a collective sigh of relief – their mom was going to be okay. “She wanted us to party and celebrate her life because my mom never had any regrets”.
Another son, Farrell Marshall, started a GoFundMe page seeking donations for the family after the tragedy. She often went out dancing at Pulse with Henderson. As he wound up his speech, Santos looked upwards and asked Brenda to “tell Jesus to step up the salsa game”. “I went from seeing my mother’s smile to seeing her in a coffin”.
“I kept so positive that she was going to make it”, explained son Isaiah.
They were having so much fun, she wanted to share it with the world so she uploaded a video of the club to Facebook around midnight. She was a fighter.
Family members release 49 white balloons at the funeral of Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool. Marquez-McCool was smiling and laughing, snapping photos of him to send to his stepfather.
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The 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub attack.
