The wake for modern Dominican merengue music performer, Jayson González, of the musical group Ilegales, established a new record in attendance at the Funeraria Blandino. Security personnel of the funeral house had to designate lines so that the thousands that came to say goodbye and offer condolescences to relatives could enter in an orderly fashion. Thousands of his fans also attended the burial at the Cristo Redentor Cemetery. The local press dedicated front page photos and multiple page spreads to the funeral services. The funeral was transmitted by major news agencies, including live coverage by the Spanish language version of CNN. The group has a future presentation scheduled at the important Latin music festival of Viñas del Mar in Chile. The group leaves for Costa Rica for a musical commitment tomorrow, as the show must go on. The Ilegales began at the end of 1995 and has gained popularity in Mexico, Spain, United States, Venezuela and Central America for its catchy innovation of the merengue that brought about a new music, known as merenhouse, a combination of rock, rap, hip-hop and merengue. Its first hit was "La Morena." Twenty-year old José Fermín (Jayson) González suffered a car crash on 13 December. It was said that the most serious of his wounds did not occur in the car crash but in his handling while he was being taken to the Darío Contreras Hospital, where he received the first assistance. He suffered from serious lesions to his spinal cord that resulted in paralysis from the head down. He spent almost a month in the intensive care units at the Universidad Central del Este Hospital and was transferred five days prior to his death to the military hospital, Hospital Central. He is survived by a five-month old daughter. Wilfrido Vargas, one of the merengue maestros of all times, said at the wake, "The use of the seat belt is important…."
