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Family reels after death of youngster 8-year-old boy died in cave-in of trench at construction site
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
February 18, 2003
GREELEY - Eight-year-old Raul Terrazas is closer to God, his grieving family says.
"I think he's with Dios now," Raul's mother, Norma Terrazas, said Monday.
Raul died Sunday after being buried by a cave-in while he played in a 7-foot ditch at a new Greeley subdivision.
Like his family, Raul was a devout Jehovah's Witness who attended church regularly.
"He went to church because he said he didn't want to die because he wanted to get closer to God," recounted Diane, his sister
Family members who congregated at Raul's home in the Parkview subdivision had not come to grips with the tragedy.
"We're just trying to believe it even happened," said Raul's aunt, Aracely Gonzalez.
Sunday started as routine for the Terrazas family and Raul. They went to church and returned home. But Raul was an active youngster who enjoyed most sports and spent a lot of his time playing with neighborhood buddies.
"He wanted to be a boxer," his sister remembered. "He saw it on TV, and he would practice on my brother, and my dad liked it. He had a video game, the Dragon Ball Z, and he would practice doing the movements."
Raul visited his friend, David Perez, to borrow David's pump and put air in his bicycle tires. That was last time David saw Raul alive.
"I remember when he came over he was always respectful, he was always respectful to my mom," said David, 11.
Raul headed out with his cousin, Luis, and a neighborhood pal. Sometime during the afternoon they made their way to the construction site in the 2600 block of Alpine Avenue a few blocks away.
Construction workers had dug out several large trenches, and "No Trespassing" signs are posted in white buckets. However, no fence encircles the development site.
Raul apparently climbed down the deep ditch to play when part of the trench collapsed on top of the East Memorial Elementary School student.
Raul's cousin and friend were unable to clear the sand and dirt off the child and raced home to tell Raul's mother.
Norma Terrazas and the boys went back to the construction site in the family car but Raul's mother was unable to get the rubble off her son, family members said. She and her nephew climbed out of the trench and drove down the street to the neighborhood screaming for help.
"I was sitting down reading a newspaper and all of a sudden I heard a kid screaming, 'Help us. Help us. Please, help us!' " said neighbor Mark Llamas, who initially thought children simply were playing near his home.
Llamas said he saw Norma Terrazas and her nephew frantically calling for help and asking anyone to get a shovel.
"The mother is begging me in Spanish: 'Help me, help me!'" Llamas said.
Llamas put on his boots, ran into the garage to grab a shovel and then hopped into Terrazas' car and drove about a block back down to the construction site. Llamas said he was joined by two other neighbors and they began poking and digging with their shovels but feared they would accidentally strike the boy.
They began digging with their hands and one of the neighbors found Raul's head and torso facing the sky.
Efforts to revive boy failed.
On Monday, Raul's father, Hector Terrazas Sr., cut short his trip to Mexico and returned. The family spent most of the day trying to make arrangements for a funeral while his sister proudly talked about her younger brother.
"He also was funny," Diane said. "He would cheer us up when we were down."
The family has established an account in memory of Raul Terrazas. Anyone wanting to help the family should send donations to: Family reels after death of youngster
