SAN DIEGO — The body of an American father who was murdered in Mexico is back in San Diego for funeral services.
News 8 has been following Phillip Caldwell and his family for the past five months as they tried to migrate to the United States from Mexico.
The victim’s widow and three children attended a memorial service and viewing Monday night at the Altar Funeral Home in Rolando. Caldwell’s body was repatriated more than five weeks after he was gunned down in the violent Tres de Octubre neighborhood of Tijuana.
San Diegans donated more than $6,300 to help bring the U.S. citizen's remains back to the United States.
Caldwell's father thanked the community for stepping up to pay mortuary costs and air transportation back to Alabama where Caldwell will be buried.
Caldwell's widow, Dulce, invited News 8 to the funeral service in southeastern San Diego. She and her three children are saying their final farewells to the 40-year-old husband and loving father.
Dulce is a Mexican national. The kids are U.S. citizens, just like their father, even though they were born in Chiapas, Mexico.
The family decided to migrate to the United States because recent violence in Chiapas put their lives at risk. Phillip, Dulce and the kids had to live for four months in shelters and rental units in Tijuana, as they waited for their asylum number to be called at the border.
Ironically, two days after Dulce claimed asylum at San Ysidro, Phillip was murdered along with five other people inside a neighboring house in Tijuana. Police said the target of the shooting appeared to be the family's landlord.
San Diego Catholic Charities has been helping Dulce and the kids get settled in an El Cajon transitional living center, as the widow’s asylum claim and green card application are processed.
Her two older children now are attending a Christian school locally.
Phillip Caldwell's father, William Caldwell, will travel back to Alabama for burial services at the Jacksonville City Cemetery.