February 16 2014 , a Sunday morning When My Bestfriend Irais Acosta was brutally taken from us at just 19 years old, our worlds shattered forever. She wasn't just my best friend; she was a beacon of hope and ambition, attending PCC and with dreams as big as her heart. Her life was unjustly stolen by her boyfriend in an act of cold-blooded gun violence, driven by spite and jealousy. The sad part is how normalized domestic violence is in this society. Her life was robbed from her. The impact of her death has left a void in her family's life – her parents, her siblings , family and friends  and our entire community BROKEN & Traumatized!! A real nightmare. 

We have mourned, but we have also hoped for justice to prevail. Now, Eleven years later, the man responsible for this senseless crime is eligible for early release for supposedly having good behavior . Eleven years for shooting his girlfriend in his family home cold blooded!! No way. This possibility is not only a disrespect to Irais’s memory but an injustice to everyone who knew and loved her. It is a dangerous precedent to allow someone who acted with such malice to be on the streets again.

Irais was robbed of her future and we were robbed of seeing it unfold. Her potential was immense; she was destined to make a significant contribution to the world. Her life mattered then, it matters now, and it will forever. We cannot let her death be just another statistic. We need to make sure her murderer serves the full extent of his sentence, as a testament to the value of her stolen life!!! 

We urge the parole board to reconsider his eligibility for early release. Justice for Irais is justice for every victim of senseless violence. Sign this petition to demand accountability for her murder and honor the vibrant life that was so tragically taken from us. #JusticeForIraisAcosta #JusticeForIraisAcosta