Mourners pack funeral mass for slain Berkeley High brothers

Slain Berkeley High brothers laid to rest

Two teenage brothers who were shot and killed at a party in Oakland were honored Thursday at a packed funeral mass.

BERKELEY, Calif. - Two teenage brothers who were shot and killed at a party in Oakland were honored Thursday at a packed funeral mass.

The teens were both students at Berkeley High School.

Hundreds turned out at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Berkeley for a final farewell to Jazy Sotelo Garcia, 17, and his 15-year-old brother, Angel Garcia.

"They were angels. They were sweethearts," said their cousin Melani Garcia Macias.

Jazy's casket was brought out first. A few minutes later, Angel's casket was escorted by pallbearers to a hearse.

The teenagers were shot and killed at house party in West Oakland earlier this month. Police say two shooters, one armed with a rifle, invaded an Airbnb rental near Apgar and West MacArthur Boulevard and targeted the victims. Two other teens were hurt.

Police have said the motive was not gang or group-related, but some kind of dispute linked to the high school.

"We're just here to honor their memory with love and light, to be here for our students and to make sure that we can do our parts to try to change the world," said Laura Babitt, vice president of the Berkeley school board.

Some said this was a comforting tribute, one that would help them cope for a future without them.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," said a student who wished only to be identified as Allan. "I mean, it's sad but like we gotta accept, we gotta keep moving on. I can't keep my head down forever, I gotta pick it up."

2 teen brothers from Berkeley killed at Oakland house party

High school students Angel and Jazy Sotelo Garcia, of Berkeley, were fatally shot while attending a house party in Oakland's Longfellow neighborhood on Saturday night. Two other people at the party were injured by gunfire.

Berkeley schools superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel said, "The feeling of course is of loss and of grief but again so much love of these babies, just holding and caring of one another."

She added, "It is unique and special how this community rallied together, how this community came together across different - of all kinds."

Family members say they're at a loss as to why the brothers were killed.

In Spanish, Ruben Garcia, the boy's uncle said, "They were excellent people. They were brothers. They didn't have problems with anybody, or with gangs or drugs."

Their cousin Garcia Macias said, "It's really beautiful and heartwarming to know and see that the boys were so loved, both in life and in death and seeing the outcome is just beyond words."