Hundreds of mourners filled an arts center in Brownsville, Texas, on Friday to remember Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte with tears, laughter and affectionate stories.
But one person was noticeably absent.
asserted
person → fill → tears
Kennedy Suarez, the actor's fiancée, was not invited to his celebration of life, sources told the Daily Mail – even though the service was open to the public.
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service → invite → public
All 216 white chairs were filled and approximately 100 more people stood in the back, where an overflow area had been set up and a camera livestreamed the memorial to those who could not attend.
During the two-hour service, Mitte's family and friends recalled his struggles with cerebral palsy, his advocacy for the disabled and his role on Breaking Bad.
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family → fill → Bad
But Suarez, a human resources manager who had been engaged to the actor since last October, was not mentioned in the eulogies and she did not appear in the photographs in the slideshow played before the ceremony.
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she → engage → ceremony
'It's like they were never together,' said mourner Donna LaBrie, who described herself as an 'old friend' of the actor.
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who → say → actor
Two sources close to the family said the relationship between Suarez and the Mittes had become so fractured that it was unclear whether the couple were still together when Mitte died.
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Mitte → say → Suarez
Mitte's shock death comes only a year after the actor got engaged to Kennedy Suarez
RJ Mitte's family and friends attend the late actor's celebration of life in Brownsville on Friday
The actor was loved by fans around the world for his role in the AMC hit show Breaking Bad
'Kennedy wasn't invited,' one family source said.
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source → come → show
'We didn't know if she was going to just show up.
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she → know → ?
If she had, we wouldn't have caused a scene.
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we → have → scene
But she wasn't going to sit with the family.
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she → go → family
She would have sat with everyone else.
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She → sit → everyone
'
Mitte, 34, died by suicide on Monday at the home he once shared with Suarez, shocking not only his family but fans around the world who knew him for his breakout role as Walter White's son in the hit AMC series.
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who → die → series
Mitte and Suarez had been friends for years before their relationship turned romantic and he proposed on Suarez's 30th birthday last October, at a fundraiser for United Cerebral Palsy in Carlsbad, California.
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he → turn → Carlsbad
One of Mitte's friends who attended the memorial and knows Suarez also described the tension in their relationship.
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who → attend → relationship
I don't know if it was on or off [when he died].'
They added: 'Of course he loved her, but there were talks for a long time about ending it.
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he → know → it
I don't know exactly what happened there and no one in the family knows.'
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one → know → family
The friend described how problems in the relationship began to create tension between families.
'If he came to see anyone in his family, there was always a reason why she didn't come,' they added.
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they → describe → family
Mitte's mother, Dyna (in white and black) revealed she was the one who found her son's body
Friends and family remembered the star with tears, laughter and affectionate stories
His death came as a shock to everyone who knew him - and his mom revealed there was no suicide note
Speakers portrayed him as a man who was deeply religious, loved his family and wanted to make a difference in the world
They pushed back against the claims made by Mitte family members and suggested there was more to the story.
The Daily Mail was then redirected to a Facebook post shared by Suarez's mother, Heather Suarez, late on Friday, in which she spoke about her family's 'unsurpassable grief' and 'heartbreak' after Mitte's death.
'
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she → reveal → death
Our daughter and our entire family loved him as our own and we will forever wish we could have protected him from the cruelty of this world,' the post reads.
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post → love → world
She revealed the family held a private candlelit celebration to honor Mitte's life.
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family → reveal → life
'RJ, we will forever love you, cherish the memories we shared, and strive to be better because you were part of our lives.
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you → love → lives
Your impact will never be forgotten, and your legacy will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved you,' she wrote.
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she → forget → you
TMZ reported earlier this week, citing unnamed sources, that Suarez asked Mitte to choose between her and his family.
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Suarez → report → her
His mother, Dyna Mitte, acknowledged the there were issues to NBC News.
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mother → acknowledge → News
'I will tell you there was some of that going on.
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I → tell → that
I'm not going to lie about that,' she said.
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she → go → that
'We're a very tight, close-knit family, and that was weighing on him heavy.'
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that → knit → him
She said she had always told her son he was free to marry and live his life.
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he → say → life
'And so there was no decision to be made at that, but he, I guess, might have felt torn.'
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I → be → that
Inside the center – part of the cultural district his philanthropic family's foundation built in the heart of Brownsville – the focus remained firmly on Mitte's life.
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focus → build → life
Speakers portrayed him as a man who was deeply religious, loved his family and wanted to make a difference in the world.
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who → portray → world
His grandmother, Anita Dianne Carriere, recalled the day the family drove to Jackson, Mississippi, to bring him home after Dyna adopted him as a baby.
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Dyna → recall → baby
'I rode in the back seat, that was before we had to have car seats and I rode and held him in the back seat of the car til we got back to Austin, Texas,' she said.
'From the very beginning, I had the opportunity to be part of his life...
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I → ride → life
we felt like RJ was one of our children.'
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RJ → feel → children
His younger sister, Lacianne Carriere, delivered the most heartbreaking tribute
His grandmother, Anita Dianne Carriere, recalled the day the family adopted him with a touching tribute
Mitte's sister prompted laughter from the room with a joke about her brother's 'nasty truck'
His younger sister, Lacianne Carriere, delivered the most heartbreaking tribute, sobbing as she remembered the brother who had helped raise her.
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who → deliver → her
'RJ Mitte was my older brother but I not only just lost a brother, I lost my father,' she said.
'
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she → lose → father
My mom was a single mother and when I was two weeks old, she was in an accident that paralyzed her from the waist down for the first few years of my life.
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that → paralyze → life
And my brother immediately took on the father role.
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brother → take → role
Every type of music I listen to, everything I watch, every game I play, our mannerisms.
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I → listen → music
I just really miss my brother.
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I → miss → brother
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
