10/06/2022
Marco was struggling the last few months of his life. He invited me and our oldest daughter out to Starbucks because that was one of our favorite things to do as a family. He felt that he needed to clear the air and address some things that had been going on with us. He told our oldest daughter that he wanted her there too. He went on to express how frustrated, alone, and tired he felt. The voices in his head had gotten too loud. He was expressing how alone he felt and at one point became upset and asked us “Who do I have? Who calls me? Besides our family in our house? Who??? People think I’m crazy. They think I’m a loser. Nobody wants anything to do with me. The medication isn’t working. I’m tired of these fu***ng voices.” I wish I could tell you that there is a happy ending to this story. I wish I could tell you that Marco received the help he so desperately needed. I wish I could tell you all these things. The ugly truth is that the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department FAILED him and they KILLED him on October 6, 2019. Marco was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, he struggled with depression, PTSD, and addiction. Despite all those struggles, he managed to become an owner operator, was a successful truck driver, he was a father, son, husband, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle, grandfather, and friend. He was loved by SO many. Today marks his 3 year anniversary, in his honor, we would like to ask if you could do one act of kindness. Reach out to a loved one, pay for the car behind you in the drive through line, give a person a compliment, or whatever you feel lead to do. We all need to be reminded of how loved we are and how much we are still needed here. To give you all a glimpse of how Marco felt, here is an email I found that was sent by Marco to a radio show host back in 2018 (sharing a part of it). His main worry was always his family. His main concern was always to keep us safe. That is what he died trying to do. Say His Name - Marco Vazquez Jr✊🏼🤍
