Hundreds mourn loss of VCU student

Mark Robinson
Assistant News Editor

VIRGINIA BEACH – Family and friends gathered at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Virginia Beach to pay their respects to Carolina Perez, the VCU student killed in a DUI accident last Wednesday morning.

More than 420 people attended the funeral, including about 40 VCU students. The university provided free transportation to the noon mass.

A slow procession of tearful mourners said goodbye to a beloved daughter and friend at the viewing before the funeral mass, which was held at the church Perez attended as a standout student at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach.

Rev. Silvio Kaberia delivered the homily in English and Spanish.

“What a great inspiration: faith in God. And that’s what Carolina had,” he said. “She had great faith.”

Rev. Patrick Golden of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond spoke of Perez’s positive effect on the Catholic Campus Ministry at VCU.

“I couldn’t believe how many people (Carolina) impacted,” he said. “She was a healer of souls.”

Aleena Inthaly, Perez’s suitemate in her dorm, attended the funeral on Saturday. The solidarity of the funeral helped her find closure, she said.

“I’m kind of uplifted,” said Inthaly, a political science and international relations major. “It’s not really saying goodbye because I know she’ll always be a part of me and everybody who knows her. Being with everyone who cared about her made me feel better about the whole thing.”

Perez is survived by her mother Floriana, father Rogelio and two younger brothers, Rogelio Jr. and Adam.

Those who knew Carolina Perez remember her for her permanent smile, ceaseless work ethic and unwavering faith in God.

Rose Pham, one of Perez’s best friends, met her the summer before their freshman year. Both Perez and Pham were in VCU Acceleration, a program for pre-med majors.

“(Carolina) was a very sweet person who cared about others. She always smiled,” said Pham, now a sophomore criminal justice major. “You would never see her without a smile.”

Perez, a devout Catholic, was heavily involved in the Catholic Campus Ministry at VCU. She lead the CCM’s Rosary group on Monday nights and attended mass every Sunday, Pham said.

Perez routinely spent her time helping others. She volunteered for the Carver-VCU partnership and Crossover Health Care Ministry on the Southside. Perez, a biology major at VCU, wanted to be a doctor.

Joshua Dart, the VCU Campus Minister at CCM, said it was Perez’s willingness to befriend people who needed a friend that made her special.

“There’s a joy that she had that she especially wanted to share with people who she knew didn’t have joy, and the way that she did that was by being herself,” Dart said. “She knew who she was because she knew of her love for God.”

Michael McIntyre, Perez’s UNIV 200 professor, said she was quiet in class, but clearly bright. He broke the news of her death to her classmates on Thursday afternoon.

“I got in there and was talking to the class and looked over at where she always sat – she always sat in that same desk – and the desk was empty,” he said. “Even though I knew that moment was coming, it wasn’t any easier to take.”

She was researching the effects of alcohol on young people for her term paper, he said.

Perez was killed in a DUI accident that also left two other VCU students injured early last Wednesday morning.

The driver of the other car, Varinder “Vick” Chahal, was also a VCU student. He was charged with felony manslaughter, driving under the influence and refusal to submit to breath and blood tests.

Perez, 19, was a month shy of her 20th birthday.

Photos by Amber-Lynn Taber