Killing of Long Beach man leaves family without its 'anchor'

Don’t cry too long, pastors and church elders told the mourners — Victor Eugene Alford has gone home to rest in peace. But at Alford’s funeral in Watts, Bishop York Milton’s message was struggling to break through the congregants’ grief. A few programs waved in the pews.

Then Victor Alford’s 4-year-old son, Caleb, got up. His rendition of “He’s Able” roused the mourners from their seats and into the aisles, waving their hands variously in praise and pain.

“It feels like my anchor has left me,” Marcus Alford, Victor’s brother, said later. “He was with me for the long haul, and now I’m just here, floating.”

Victor Alford died May 25 at age 37. Ten days earlier, he was found lying on the ground in Long Beach, where he lived, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Family members said he was driving to pick up his mother from church when was shot.

Long Beach investigators said this week that they have made no arrests and are still looking for suspects in the killing.

Nearly 100 people attended the service June 11 at St. Peter Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God on East 92nd Street. Many of the audience members had met Victor Alford at the various churches he had attended. He would always arrive in his Sunday best, as a young man earning one congregation’s recognition as the best-dressed junior usher.

Family members said Victor Alford was a blessing to them who focused on watching over his mother and siblings after his father died of heart problems in 2006. When his mother got rheumatoid arthritis, Alford would help her look her best for Sunday service, from the hat to the shoes, they said. 

On weekends, Victor Alford would gather his four brothers to hang out and get haircuts, and although Marcus had very little hair, he would go anyway to be around his brother.

“He left a legacy that isn’t easy to follow,” Marcus, 35, said through tears. “And know I got to lead.”

In 2009, Victor Alford began to have heart problems that slowed him down, but he pushed through his illness to care for his three children.

“He loved to spoil us,” said Victoria Alford, his 16-year-old daughter.

She didn’t live with her father but always had his attention. “If I said that I needed him,” she said, “he would always come. Even if he wasn’t feeling up to it, he would say ‘I’m on my way.’”

Jesse Alford, 22, another brother, recalled how Victor prepared him for adulthood, teaching him to drive and manage finances.

“Vic, he taught me so much, and now I got to put it all into practice,” Jesse said. “It just won’t be the same without him.”

At the church, the mourners had trouble keeping their composure when it came time to stop at the open casket for a final moment with Victor.

Marcus Alford shook violently. Ushers held up Dinah Alford, Victor’s mother, as she gripped her son’s hand.

Victoria Alford clutched one hand to her mouth and stretched her other hand toward her father.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered before walking up the aisle and out the back of the church.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photos: (Top) Victoria Alford weeps over the casket of her father June 11. (Middle) Family members console Marcus Alford after his remarks at his brother's funeral. Credit: Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times