Donning shirts that read “R.I.P. Juan,” hundreds of people packed the March Funeral Home in Baltimore Wednesday to mourn 3-year-old Nijuan Thomas Jr., who perished in one of the deadliest city fires in recent memory.
“Family, we?re here because we love you,” about 300 friends and family said in unison. “We love you. We?re praying for you and we?ll be there for you.”
The son of Fatima Dunn and Nijuan Thomas Sr., the child was enrolled at St. Vincent DePaul Head Start.
He was killed, along with five others, on May 22 when a fast-moving fire broke out on the first floor of a row house on Cecil Avenue in East Baltimore. Seven people were injured in the blaze.
Baltimore City Fire Chief William Goodwin, who spoke briefly at the funeral ? reading a letter from Mayor Sheila Dixon ? said investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire and expected to release their findings soon.
“This is taking a little longer than usual because of the enormity of the situation,” Goodwin said.
At the funeral, family members described Nijuan as a “fun and loving child” who went by the nickname “Ranz.”
Cars fascinated Nijuan and he loved to ride dirt bikes or jump in the driver?s seat of automobiles and pretend to race, according to his family.
He also loved hanging out and joking with his favorite cousins and uncles and playing video games.
Brother Rahim Abdul, who gave the remarks at the funeral, said some good must come out of the tragic fire.
“Because of the magnitude of tragedy, it really brought the whole city together,” he said.
A day earlier, friends and family gathered to bury 7-year-old Marquis Ellis, who also died in the fire.
The blaze is considered the worst in the city since Angela and Carnell Dawson and five of their children were burned to death in 2002 by a drug dealer in retaliation for calling the police.
