Inside, friends put up pictures from his life, and there were tears, it seemed, on every face as that mother saw her son's body for the first time since he was shot and killed by a police officer.
"You're my baby boy, you can't leave me. You're my baby boy," his mother cried.
Outside the funeral home, too there was anguish.
/*Noel Polanco*/ served with the National Guard and hoped to someday become a police officer.
Last Thursday morning, he was driving home with friends and was stopped by an emergency services unit of the NYPD because he was driving erratically.
Police got out, guns and rifles drawn, and one officer shot and killed Polanco, under circumstances that are still unclear.
He was unarmed, and his family sure doesn't believe what police are saying.
"He never got into any trouble," said Amanda Reyes, the victim's sister.
"Why? Why? He did not deserve that," said Jovani Padin, the victim's best friend.
Dianne Diferrari, the only non police eyewitness in the case who claims Polanco's hands were on the steering wheel when he was shot, is cooperating with the various investigations.
Polanco's mother will meet with the Queens County District Attorney Thursday about the investigation into her son's death.
Polanco's funeral will take place Friday in Corona. Reverend Al Sharpton is set to deliver remarks.
---
