‘We Want Justice for Our Daughter’
/
On her 18th birthday, Frances Kendra Lucero looked forward to a happy future (Photo courtesy of Liezel Lucero).
Lucero’s next three decades proved her father’s prediction when she completed her studies and thrived in a career in financing. She fell in love and got married and had three children and a life that realized the bright future she had envisioned.
“Our life is not perfect, but I can have everything I want, buy my kids whatever they want, if I work hard to afford it,” she describes her American lifestyle. Her priority has always been for her children to be happy and safe.
A strong work ethic, devotion to family, and deep faith are the values she embraced, believing they would shield her and her loved ones from adversity. But this past spring, a most horrific tragedy shattered her cherished existence and shocked their quiet neighborhood in the Westlake district of Daly City, California.
News outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond headlined the same report: Frances Kendra Lucero, 27, was shot and killed on March 6 in front of her daughter and son, ages 4 and 3, as she walked to her parents’ home where she also resided.
KTVU, People, Yahoo News and even the UK-based Daily Mail in a March 13 story said the Daly City Police Department had arrested the children’s father, identified as Romier Narag. DCPD Acting Chief Cameron Christensen confirmed the arrest on murder and associated weapons charges.
Indescribable Pain
Frances was the eldest of Liezel’s three children, the one who introduced her to the boundlessness of a mother’s love.
“There are no words to describe the pain, sobrang sakit (it’s agonizing),” Liezel tried to express the tragedy’s impact on her, her husband Florendo “Ollen” Lucero, their son and younger daughter. “No parent would want to bury their child.”
Frances lay in an open casket for two days, the four shots that took her life in the most intentionally savage fashion unseen. She was laid to rest on March 27. In the succeeding days, grief, anger, depression, and denial gripped her bereft mother, Liezl, who had to attend to responsibilities as a wife, mother and professional.
“I took three weeks from work thinking it would distract me, but it didn’t help. I needed to take more time off,” says Liezel.
News reporters requested interviews for details of the shooting. Liezel has declined, preferring to wait until the case goes to pre-trial on Dec. 13 at the County Centre in Redwood City. For now, she would rather talk about Frances’ 27 years of bringing joy and pride.
“She was an only child for nine years” while Liezel and Ollen delayed having more children to focus on earning and saving for the future. “We gave her everything she needed, pampered her, sent her to private school at Holy Angels (in Colma).”
Positively Motivated
At El Camino High School in South San Francisco, Frances was an honor student who also excelled in dance and volleyball.
“As a kid, she wanted to be a dentist, but her interest changed and she decided to pursue certification as an optician. In fact, while studying at Skyline College, Frances began employment at an optometry office in Daly City,” Liezel adds. The job was ideal as it involved customer service, bringing out Frances’ warmth and engaging personality.
“My daughter is smart, independent, motivated and caring,” Liezel speaks of Frances in the present tense as if she would walk in any moment and flash her radiant smile. “She is very responsible. Because of the age gap with her brother and sister, she was like a mom to them; she prepared their meals, picked them up and took them to school when I was at work.”
Liezel and Frances enjoy a mom and daughter bonding while shopping (Photo courtesy of Liezel Lucero).
Frances was the “Ate” (big sister) to her siblings on whom she doted as she did her own children, now five and four years old. They looked up to her, and think of her whenever they hear her favorite songs, like Jessie J’s “Flashlight,” the theme from “Pitch Perfect 2” or ride in “Ate’s car.”
She never missed family get-togethers, doing karaoke, cooking, and eating Filipino food. True to tradition, she made time to be with her family during special occasions even after she had moved out to share an apartment with a female friend.
Frances was ever-present at Christmas and special occasions with her parents and siblings even after she had moved out of the family home (Photo courtesy of Liezel Lucero).
Liezel and Ollen supported their daughter’s wish to strike on her own, knowing she was both responsible and resourceful.
“My daughter discovered crystals and started selling them as bracelets and necklaces on social media. She believed in their ability to provide mental and physical benefits. It was a successful venture,” Liezel explains.
The healing power of crystal energy may be unproven scientifically, yet it boosted Frances’ positive outlook, coupled with her favorite written affirmations that she placed in strategic locations to keep her focused and optimistic.
Liezel says she did not really get to know the father of Frances’ children very well, although he and Frances lived with her off and on, like when the pandemic took a financial toll on the younger couple.
Typical
Her daughter’s domestic situation was nothing out of the ordinary, Liezel thought. Like any couple, they had their ups and downs. All that was missing was a signed marriage contract.
She never witnessed a moment when she wondered if her daughter had erred in entering the relationship. As far as she knew they would have occasional disagreements, and then patch up. Her hope was like her and Ollen, they would overcome any difference and realize the depth of their love for each other.
A seasoned loan officer at a bank, Liezel had been immersed in paperwork when she received an unexpected call that fateful day seven months ago, telling her of an incident at her property that required her to get there fast.
Liezel raced home in the driving rain to find telltale yellow tape along the perimeter of their Eastgate Avenue residence, with police and paramedics surrounding the area, leaving no doubt of a worst-case scenario.
Liezel saw her daughter only when she spotted a body bag, an image she cannot erase from her mind.
She is thankful the children are in her care, but the entire family is devastated, she says. “We’re all getting therapy. Our normal life was taken away. I suffer from separation anxiety when I say goodbye to my son and younger daughter. In the past, we could go out and stay out late, but now we’re traumatized, unable to leave the house. Our trust has been stolen, we’re paranoid.” She shudders when her phone rings.
Caring Community
Instead of discussing the crime with the media, Liezel has turned her efforts toward honoring Frances at events organized by community members who, she says, make her feel she is not alone.
A few days after the shooting, she praised her daughter after holy Mass at a full house in the Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center offices just a few steps from the scene of the tragedy.
Friends and family pray at a vigil on the spot where Frances was killed, turning their grief to demanding for justice (Photo courtesy of Liezel Lucero).
Last month, she joined Daly City Vice Mayor Juslyn Manalo as a guest at domestic violence prevention nonprofit ALLICE Alliance for Community Empowerment’s 20th anniversary commemoration, where she received an outpouring of support from attendees. There, she met Clara Tempongko, mother of Claire Joyce Tempongko, the single mother who was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend 23 years ago, and was introduced onstage by San Mateo Supervisor David Canepa.
Liezel finds solace in the outpouring of support from city and community advocates like Clara Tempongko, mother of Claire Joyce Tempongko, who died in similar circumstances 23 years ago. Photo shows Daly City Council Member Rod Daus Magbual, PBRC founder Perla Ibarrientos, DC City Manager Tom Piccolotti, ALLICE 2023 co-president Junior Flores, author and DC Asst. to the City Manager Leilani Ramos at the ALLICE 20th anniversary gathering (Photo by Lydia Pomposo/ALLICE).
Two days later she attended a vigil arranged by CORA Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse to remember those who died in domestic violence.
“I want everyone to know what kind of person my daughter, Frances Kendra Lucero, was,” Liezel told PF, her voice rising when she airs her quest: “We want justice for Frances, and that is life imprisonment for the one who took her life. We have to live life without Frances, and he should face life without parole.”
Frances’ friends echo Liezel’s words in a social media post:
"Frances dedicated her life to her children and always spread the love she had to share. She was the most genuine, thoughtful, loyal and ambitious woman we've all been blessed to know. Frances was that friend that would help you celebrate good times and provide nothing but support during the bad times."
Though crushed by Frances’ fate, Liezel’s parents are inspired by her conviction to gain justice for her daughter with the same resolve they imparted 30 years ago, when they assured Liezel that perseverance pays.
Never in Liezel’s mind did she imagine having to spend All Saints’ Day at her daughter’s grave as she did last week (Photo courtesy of Liezel Lucero).
PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno founded ALLICE in 2003 and serves as executive director. For more information, visit www.allicekumares.com.
More articles from Cherie Querol Moreno
