Funeral held for mother, 4 young girls killed in Des Plaines fire

DES PLAINES, Ill. (WLS) -- Friends and loved ones said a last goodbye to a mother and her four young daughters who were killed in a fire two weeks ago in Des Plaines.

It was a heartbreaking sight: five white caskets lined up at the front of the Chapel of St. Joseph in Des Plaines Wednesday morning.

"Te ofrecemos señor este sacrificio por la salvación de nuestras hermanas Cithlaly, Renata, Genesis, Allison y Grace," Archbishop Blase Cupich.

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Archbishop Cupich officiated the mass. He said in Spanish that he was called to do so to show the family the entire church is with them in their grief. He presented them with rosaries blessed by the Pope himself.

"It's the most difficult thing to have to preach about the death of such beautiful innocence," said Fr. Esequiel Sanchez, Shrine of Our Virgin of Guadalupe. "Not even these young ones were able to escape death itself."

The girl's father, Juan Espinoza, watched over his family's caskets as they left the sanctuary. He was spared from the fatal fire, which started after he had left for work.

With much of the family in Mexico, a humanitarian visa was given to Cithlaly Zamudio's parents so they could attend today's funeral for their daughter and granddaughters.

The caskets and the burial plots were all donated to the family. The mother and her four daughters were buried at All Saints Cemetery immediately following service.