Close-knit family of immigrants shaken by double deaths

When Geremias Caceres visited Orlando Bayon Jr. of Brentwood at Stony Brook University Medical Center on Jan. 24, Caceres told his young nephew he would recover from cancer, according to a family friend.

"On that day, Geremias said, 'You're a champion and you're going to be walking pretty soon,' " Ivonne Perix, of East Norwich, said Wednesday.

Hours after that meeting, Caceres, 38, was shot to death near his home in Huntington Station while protecting his son from three robbers, Suffolk police said.

And on Monday, Bayon died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 21.

The two tragedies have shaken the close-knit family of immigrants, who gathered together this week for Bayon's wake just three weeks after sending Caceres to his native El Salvador to be buried.

"There's always the why. They accept God's will. They accept that God has His way," Perix said, adding, "There are moments when we all break down together."

Two men have been charged in connection with Caceres' death. A third man is being sought by Suffolk police.

Bayon, a graduate of Brentwood High School, worked at a Nike store in Deer Park and attended classes at Suffolk County Community College, Perix said. He wanted to become a paramedic.

After his parents, Orlando and Elsa, moved to Kissimmee, Fla., several years ago, Bayon became closer with Caceres, his wife, Blanca, and their sons. Elsa Bayon and Blanca Caceres are sisters.

The Caceres family and other family members made frequent visits to Bayon's hospital room.

"Everybody went almost every day," Perix said. "Geremias was like his second father and Blanca was his other mother."

Bayon loved cars and playing with pit bulls. Like his uncle, who played bass at his church in Westbury, Bayon played bass at Pentecostal Christian Church of God in Bay Shore.

Bayon was "a very sweet guy," said the Rev. Rolando Carbajal, the church's pastor. Carbajal said he visited Bayon in the hospital shortly after being hired by the church seven months ago.

"We were calling on God to do something about him because it was very hard for us to see him like he was," he said. "We were praying to God to either take him or heal him."

Carbajal said he told Bayon's family, "this is one of those things about God that doesn't make sense . . . For God it always makes sense because He's the one who knows the future."

In addition to his parents, Bayon is survived by three brothers, Wilson, Jesse and Gabriel, of Kissimmee, Fla.; and a half-sister, Monica Torres, of Wisconsin.

A funeral will be held at noon Friday at Pentecostal Christian Church of God in Bay Shore. Burial will follow at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.