Hundreds of family and friends attended a funeral today for three members of a Washington, DC, family found dead in their home last month in an apparent murder-arson case that has gripped the nation as investigators continued to seek potential suspects in the killings.
Savvas Savopoulos, 46, his wife, Amy, 47, and their 10-year-old son, Philip, were remembered at a noon funeral service at Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the capital. Their housekeeper, Veralicia “Vera” Figueroa, 57, who was killed with them, is expected to be returned to her native El Salvador.
“This tragedy caused an explosion of love, of sympathy,” said Archbishop Demetrios, the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, who traveled for the service. “What can we say? We are at the funeral of three people who suffered abruptly and unexpectedly… There are no tears enough.”
The Savopolous daughters, Abigail and Katerina, were away during the murders. At the funeral Monday, they were surrounded by relatives at the front of the church.
Darron Dellon Dennis Wint has been arrested in the brutal slayings, and he is being held without bail on charges of first degree murder. Investigators believe he had help in the crime, which began with Wint, 34, allegedly holding the four victims captive in the family mansion before bludgeoning them to death and setting the home on fire.
The family was active in philanthropy and society. Savvas served on the board of directors of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
The official obituary, published in The Washington Post, spoke of a loving family active in their faith and their community. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations should be made to St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral and will benefit the Girls Orphanage of Lamia, Greece— a charity the family supported.
