When Barbara Shaw walked up to the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) shelter in downtown Safety Harbor Monday morning, she came to pay her respects to a teenager she didn’t know and never met.
“I think he should be recognized. It’s been a few days and I see no one else recognizing him,” the Safety Harbor resident said as she placed a small bouquet of flowers along with a simple sign on a piece of cardboard that read “Angel Eduardo Maradiasa Espinoza.”
2022 licensing records show 32-bedroom shelter was “appropriate and equipped”
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By: Katie LaGronePosted at 5:39 PM, May 15, 2023 and last updated 5:24 AM, May 16, 2023
SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — When Barbara Shaw walked up to the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) shelter in downtown Safety Harbor Monday morning, she came to pay her respects to a teenager she didn’t know and never met.
“I think he should be recognized. It’s been a few days and I see no one else recognizing him,” the Safety Harbor resident said as she placed a small bouquet of flowers along with a simple sign on a piece of cardboard that read “Angel Eduardo Maradiasa Espinoza.”
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Espinoza is a 17-year-old from Honduras who died a few days after he arrived at the Gulf Coast JFCS shelter for unaccompanied minors.
Espinoza, who had just been placed at the shelter a few days prior to his death, was found unresponsive in a shelter bed Wednesday morning. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to authorities.
“It’s a loss of life and a young life in our town. We need to be aware of that,” Shaw said, describing why she wanted to leave something outside the shelter in his honor.
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