Houston's B-Boy (break dancing) community is mourning one of its own. It turns out that the 29-year-old killed when 18-year-old stripper Dalia Iris Alfaro ran from the police and crashed into several cars while allegedly drunk was quite the local break dancing legend.
Natividad "Nat" Alaniz Alaniz was well regarded in Houston's B-Boy community. Friends and family gathered at St. Martin's Episcopal Church Thursday evening to honor and celebrate the 29-year-old's life. It was a fitting time and setting.
Alaniz was a huge part in organizing a break dancing outreach program with the group Youth Advocates which holds break dancing competitions every Thursday night at St. Martin's. Youth Advocates is a non-profit organization that is committed to creating a positive future for young people.
"We are experiencing loss and gain, defeat and victory. We are sharing our lives together. And Nat is with us in this, even tonight."
"Tonight my heart is full. Our community came together in full force and celebrated the life of our humble heart, Nat Alaniz," Youth Advocates director Charles Rotramel wrote on the organization's Facebook page.
Local break dancers stopped their competition Thursday night to hold the memorial for Alaniz. They removed a piece of the break dancing floor, signed it and gave it to his family.
"Tonight, as it turns out, was a night of joy. We are blessed to have one another in our lives. We are experiencing loss and gain, defeat and victory. We are sharing our lives together. And Nat is with us in this, even tonight," Rotramel said.
The family of Alaniz is mourning the loss of a beloved son, brother and friend. He was killed when he was on his way to work for his electrician job early Tuesday morning.
"It just hurts so bad," his sister Angela Leandro told KHOU. "I hope (the driver) rots in hell one day, seriously. And that's all my hate for her and taking my brother away from me."
"I'm stronger today. More mad today. My heart will always be broken for my son," his mother Diana Alaniz said.
Watch the full KHOU report with members of the Alaniz family:
Members of Youth Advocates Inc. signing a piece of the break dancing floor that was given to Alaniz's family as a tribute to him.
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