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To read about the gang killing involving the untimely death of Ernest Montuoro, please click here first<\/a>.<\/p>\n ——<\/p>\n Ernest was raised in very difficult circumstances.\u00a0 He was the youngest of seven kids, five boys and two girls.\u00a0 Of the children, only one is alive now.\u00a0 Ernie – as he was fondly called by Mario, the brother he was closest to in age – was born on December 6, 1933.\u00a0 It was a difficult birth, so difficult that his mother Theresa died.<\/p>\n After Theresa died, Ernie\u2019s Dad abandoned the children and took off with a younger woman.\u00a0 He was never seen again, and the effects of his leaving was a tremendous hardship on the kids who not only had to cope with a father who did not want them, but to cope with being foster kids.\u00a0 The two oldest girls, Francis and Mary, wanted to take care of their younger siblings but did not have enough money to do so, nor were they allowed to by law until they turned 18.\u00a0 Whoever turned 18 first would be able to take in all the brothers and sisters.\u00a0 Until that time the children were put into foster care.<\/p>\n Foster care was organized and run by nuns whose cruel behaviour made life miserable for Ernie and Mario.\u00a0 Years later, Mario held deep resentment to nuns in general because of how they treated him and his little brother while in their care.\u00a0 They were spiteful to Ernie and Mario and would hit them hard with rulers for infractions of the rules.<\/p>\n Mario and Ernest were the youngest of the brothers and very close.\u00a0 They spent a lot of time together, hanging out and trying to make the best of a life of hard knocks.\u00a0 They even resembled each other, and did things together all the time.\u00a0 When they got out of foster care and grew older, one of their favourite activities was to hang out together with other Fordham Baldies at \u201cPiggy\u2019s\u201d candy store.\u00a0 One of Ernie\u2019s hobbies or things he enjoyed doing was playing ball out on the street.<\/p>\n However, as we know, this wasn\u2019t to last.\u00a0 His death in June 1954 was very painful for all the Montuoro brothers and sisters.\u00a0 Not only did Ernie leave behind a wife, child and another on the way, but Mario, the person he was probably the closest to would carry that pain to the day he died.\u00a0 Mario missed Ernie terribly.\u00a0 Mario always wondered \u201cwhat if.\u201d\u00a0 What if Ernie hadn\u2019t been killed and survived the attack?\u00a0 What kind of life would he have had?<\/p>\n A little over a year after Ernie died, Mario had his own boy who was born on August 23, 1956.\u00a0 He named him Ernest in honor of his little brother.\u00a0 But in a terrible turn of events, Mario\u2019s own son Ernest was himself shot and killed in New York when he was only 20 years old.<\/p>\n It has been many years since Ernest\u2019s murder and Mario passed away in 2011, but memories of his brother Ernest live on in his own children.<\/p>\n Ernest Montuoro, circa 1938-1940.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Picture of Ernest Montuoro shortly before he was shot and killed by Red Wings in June 1954.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 16, 2013 Update:<\/strong><\/p>\n Another relative of Ernie emailed me and had this to add:<\/p>\n I just wanted to clarify that although Mario was closest to Ernie, in age, all of his brothers and sisters were devastated by his death.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All were dedicated to revenging his killer, although they never did.\u00a0 To this day, my cousin and I visit the grave (Ernie) and put flowers there.\u00a0 May he rest in peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before you get to the article\u2026 On February 23, 2018, my book on the Mau Maus and Sand Street Angels, who were two Brooklyn youth gangs from the 1950s, has been completed.\u00a0 It took 15 years of research and writing … Continue reading ![\"Ernest](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/ernest1.jpg?resize=167%2C639&ssl=1\")
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