By Adriana Troncoso

NEW YORK -- Several hundred Hispanics gathered Wednesday in the New York borough of Queens to say their last goodbyes to Ecuadorian Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay, the victim of a hate crime.

Close friends of the family and members of the Latino community waited for several hours beside the hearse at the Our Lady of Sorrows church until the mother of the deceased, Julia Quintuña, arrived, after which the funeral services began.

Earlier, Diego Sucuzhañay, the brother of the victim and the family's spokesman, arrived and he remained at the door of the church beside the priest and several officials until his mother, who was clearly very much affected by Jose's death, arrived.

Meanwhile, other family members carried the coffin bearing Jose's remains into the church and placed it beside the altar.

"We want to express to the family our most heartfelt condolences, with all sincerity. We are with them in their feelings," said the Rev. Thomas Healy upon beginning the celebration of the Mass.

"The faithful of this parish are immigrants. The United States is a country of immigrants. The city of New York is also. This is how we are. Jose and his brothers came here to help their families, seeking a better life, to work and struggle with so much sacrifice," he said.

This week, Jose's body will be sent back to Ecuador, where he will be buried.

Sucuzhañay, 31, was attacked 10 days ago as he and his brother were walking arm-in-arm by three men who got out of an automobile and shouted anti-Latino and anti-gay epithets. The Ecuadorian died in a hospital last Friday after five days in a coma.

Police offered a $22,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrests of the killers.