Murdered teen's grave covered with pink paint in Brockton
BROCKTON - A Brockton family is searching for the people who vandalized their daughter's grave by covering it in pink paint. The family says her resting place has been vandalized repeatedly since her death 14 years ago.
"It was almost like reliving this thing all over again," said Tiffany Andrade, sister of the late Chantel Matiyosus. "That is all that ran through my mind, why? Why 14 years later?"
Matiyosus was gunned down while leaving a baby shower in 2008. Darryene Ware was charged with her murder; however the decision was later vacated. The family says the charges were reduced to manslaughter.
"He actually got his case overturned due to a state trooper's statements," explained Andrade.
Since Chantel's death, the family has found human feces, urine, and used feminine products on their daughter's grave. The latest incident involved pink paint.
"It was like someone just took a gallon of paint and spilled it here. It went across and let it all go down. We literally drove up and down everywhere looking to see if she was the only one. She was the only one," said Andrade. "I tried to move the mulch. It was thick, dripping everywhere."
"They were scraping it until 11 p.m. trying to get it all off. Nobody could have slept with Chantel's stone being vandalized like that," said Stephanie Matiyosus, Chantel's mother, "She has been gone for 14 years. She couldn't have done anything to anybody. She can't fight back. She can't speak up for herself."
Friends and family were able to get off as much as they could. The family is trying to have her body dug up so she can be cremated. They are tired of all the incidents.
"Then we started looking into the price of it, and I can't believe it's so much money," said Matiyosus. "You literally have to have a medical examiner to do it."
The family has been trying to raise the money online.
"Emotion wise, I feel like I've cried all of my tears. I've yelled," said Andrade. "We just want her to be at peace, and this is not peace."