Man sits with eyes open, cigarette in hand at own funeral as part of bizarre Puerto Rican trend

On March 3, Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, was shot dead in Carolina, Puerto Rico, according to local reports. But on March 9, the 26-year-old was sitting cross-legged in a fresh outfit, eyes open, with a cigarette in hand at his own funeral. less On March 3, Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, was shot dead in Carolina, Puerto Rico, according to local reports. But on March 9, the 26-year-old was sitting cross-legged in a fresh outfit, eyes open, with a ... more Photo: LiveLeak Photo: LiveLeak Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Man sits with eyes open, cigarette in hand at own funeral as part of bizarre Puerto Rican trend 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

On March 3, Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, was shot dead in Carolina, Puerto Rico, according to local reports. But on March 9, the 26-year-old was sitting cross-legged in a fresh outfit, eyes open, with a cigarette in hand at his own funeral.

That’s exactly how his family asked Marin Funeral Home, a San Juan business known for their nontraditional services, to prepare their departed, according to Buzzfeed.

The funeral home has been offering “muerto parados,” or standing dead services, for grieving families since 2008, the site reported.

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A ceremony for another Puerto Rican murder victim, 24-year-old Ángel Luis “Pedrito” Pantojas, set the trend when the Marins tethered his body to the corner of a living room instead of placing it in a coffin, the home’s director, Damaris Marin, told Buzzfeed.

“When he died, the family told us they would like him to be standing up,” Marin told the site. “We thought that it was a joke. Then his mom came to the funeral home and we realized it was serious.”

Since then, nine other muerto parados have been held there including a man positioned in an ambulance and another on a sports bike. Photos of each funeral are posted on the home's website, but prices for the services are not disclosed.

Díaz Beato’s sister, Lhizz Díaz Beato, told Ruptly TV her family wanted to honor him in a way that genuinely represented his life.

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“We didn’t want to see him lying in the coffin,” she said in the video. “We wanted something different. And also, we wanted him to be remembered by his friends and family the same way he was when he was alive.”

In Buzzfeed’s report, the sister explained the significance of the chair on which her brother was seated at his funeral.

She said it was previously kept covered in plastic and her mother always refused Beato’s attempts to sit on it.

“Oh my god,” he would say, according to Díaz Beato’s interview with the site. “I’ll only be able to use it when I die.”

Marin told Buzzfeed her funeral home has been the subject of heavy criticism in the past, but her only wish is to help families like the Díaz Beatos through the bereavement process.

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“Some people say that it doesn’t look good” she said in the interview. “They prefer something more traditional. But if that’s something that the family wants, why wouldn’t you do it?”

From what Díaz Beato told Buzzfeed, their latest muerto parado eased the pain of a grieving mother, if only for a little while.

The man’s sister told Buzzfeed their mom had a “dramatic change of emotion” when she was able to spend final moments with her son as she remembered him and not as murder victim.

Marin is also pleased. She told Ruptly TV this is the most impressive work she’s done.

“This time is different because he is seated with his legs crossed, but this is the first dead man in history with his eyes open,” she said in the video.

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Twitter: @MaddySkye