ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The waves of emotion brought tears, laughs and prayerful reflection Friday as more than 2,000 people gathered to remember five members of a New Mexico family gunned down in their home last weekend.
Following a police escort, fellow chaplains and members of the Albuquerque Fire Department lined the procession for the memorial service held at one of the city’s largest churches. Bagpipes played and the urns of former pastor Greg Griego, his wife, Sarah, and their three young children were carried into the church.
Family members recalled Greg Griego’s lumbering walk, his hearty laugh and his endless commitment to helping others to turn their lives around. His wife, known for her cooking, and their children were just as much a part of that ministry. The family was always a front-row fixture at church services.
The crowd prayed for the Griegos and for their son, Nehemiah, 15, who remains in custody after being charged with the killings.
Annette Griego, one of Greg Griego’s adult daughters, told those at the service that her father was a man whose heart was after God.
“My dad never gave up on me. He never gave up on any of us. He never stopped giving us Jesus, and so I know he would want us to do the exact same thing for our brother, Nehemiah,” she said. “So if you wonder where we stand, we stand alongside our brother.
“We stand confident that God will take this tragedy and use it for something good.”
News of the slayings has reverberated throughout the community, where Greg Griego — a former gang member turned pastor — was known for his work with jail inmates, his service at local rescue missions and his spiritual guidance for firefighters and members of the military.
Friends said Griego and his teenage son went on missions to Mexico and that the boy was a talented drummer who played with the church’s youth band.
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