Berenices Suarez changed her Facebook profile picture a week before Christmas Eve. In it she has a smile that is comfortable, content.
Snuggled to her left is her boyfriend, Jermaine Allen. He is kissing her brow, looking out of the corner of his eye toward the camera.
The couple were together in the prime of life and in death, as both died in the March 6 fire that ravaged 100-102 and 104 Jay St. Suarez, 33, was identified late Wednesday afternoon by Schenectady police as one of the four people to die in the blaze.
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Allen, 37, was identified as a victim late last week. Authorities said he was “visiting” 104 Jay St. but did not supply the reason why or a home address. According to friends, but not confirmed by authorities, Allen in fact lived at 104 Jay St. with his girlfriend.
“You couldn’t ask for a better friend or brother,” said friend Jeremy Dradt of Johnstown. “It’s heartbreaking that he’s gone.”
Since the fire, numerous social media pages have featured photos of Allen and Suarez, described as a happy couple of several years.
“Every time you’d see them out they’d be smiling and having a good time,” Dradt said. “I always loved hanging out with them.”
Friend Stacie Kimball of Watervliet said Allen was the “life of the party. You never saw him down.” Kimball described Allen and Suarez as an ideal couple.
“They were always together,” Kimball said. “There was never a party where one went to it and the other didn’t. Their outfits matched. They were a perfect couple. Perfect. I never witnessed a fight.”
The two often went together to a pair of Clinton Street taverns.
“He never bothered nobody. He was a good guy,” said Jon Burns, owner of the Shamrock Grill. “And his girlfriend was nice. They would come in on Friday nights when I’d have karaoke.”
Next door at the Clinton Street Pub, bartender Wendy Murphy talked about how the couple were working to better their lives. Allen was taking online college classes, while Suarez worked at Ellis Hospital.
“She was very family oriented … and he was committed to getting a degree,” Murphy said. “They were both very outgoing, fun and very well-liked. They had a lot of friends. They were very good people.”
Suarez worked in the same Ellis Emergency Department where five of the seven injured in the fire were taken.
“Berenices Suarez, who was a patient registrar in our Emergency Department, is being remembered by her co-workers as a funny, quick-witted young woman who worked hard and never lost her cool even under the pressures that working in an Emergency Department can bring,” Ellis Medicine President and CEO Paul Milton said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies go out to Berenices’ family, and to the Ellis staff who knew her and miss her.”
Harry Simpson, 59, had previously been identified by authorities as another victim to die in the Jay Street blaze. Police have yet to release the name of the fourth victim to perish in the inferno. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to the Fire Department. Demolition of the two buildings is slated to start today.
Allen was the father of a grade-school-age son, Jarrell. A GoFundMe page to cover memorial service expenses has been set up at www.gofundme.com/okfckw, with any additional funds going to the son.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
