Grieving Mother Recounts ‘Christofer’s Spirit’

Erika Huamani thanks the Dover community for helping her cope with her son’s tragic death.

Erika Huamani checks her phone for messages from well-wishers as she deals with the loss of her son, Christofer. (DOVERNOW Photo/David Chmiel)

Blackwell Street was quiet on Sunday morning. Temperatures had fallen into the 40s, bringing gray skies, gusty winds, and cold rain.

At Water Works Park, a man walked his small dog quickly to avoid the chill. The nearby tracks were quiet. No trains were running. But the morning brought traffic to Club Colombia, where friends, neighbors, and strangers came to support Erika Huamani as she tried to cope with the horrible burden of losing her child, Christofer, in a tragic accident.

Community members stopped by, stuffing money into the wooden donations box in front of the club’s open door. The box featured a photo and a loving tribute to a smiling young man. Thirty feet from the box, Erika was in a white room, unblinking. She sat motionless in a folding chair, with cups of coffee on a small table. She was dressed in black and accepting the best wishes of people trying to find the right words of comfort.

“He was a very happy boy,” his mother said in hushed tones through a translator. “We moved to Dover from Lima, Peru… it will be three years this May. It was just me and him. He was a good kid. We loved each other so much. He was my life.”

Christofer, 18, was struck and killed by an eastbound NJTransit train on the evening of April 16. He and some friends were apparently crossing the tracks along Richboyton Road to a local Rockaway River swimming hole east of the Dover River Trail that starts at WaterWorks Park. The tracks run on an embankment that slopes steeply toward the swimming hole.

Members of the Dover community made donations to support the burial of Christofer Jeremy Chavez Huamani. (DOVERNOW Photo/David Chmiel)

“We were so happy in Dover,” Erika said. “He was a student at Dover High School. He was a talented basketball player. He was alive and loving, a playful guy all the time. He was always neat and organized. He loved being in the sea and always around water. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he wanted to go to college.”

Erika expressed kind words for her adopted community.

“We felt happy with our friends and neighbors in Dover,” she said. “I am so grateful for their support now in this moment.”

Erika issued a solemn plea for young people to stay away from the tracks and the swimming hole.

“No Mami wants to lose their child,” she said. “I want to share a message to all the young people in Dover: Please be careful.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Erika grant one final wish for Christofer. 

“His biggest dream was to visit Peru,” she said. “Now I want to give him a good service and send him home.”