Zarzoza at husband's funeral: 'I can’t and I don’t know when I will be able to forget that night'

No one could blame Flor Zarzoza for wishing an alarm clock would buzz and rouse her from what she was sitting through. The widow of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Almendarez led mourners on Friday (April 8) in remembering the man whose last act of unconditional love for her was protecting her from supposedly armed catalytic converter thieves, according to reports from Houston-based media outlets.

Almendarez and his wife were shopping for groceries for a birthday cookout for Almendarez's sister on the night of March 31 when the off-duty deputy spotted some men attempting to steal a catalytic converter from his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Joe V's Smart Shop in the 2900 block of FM 1960 at Aldine Westfield in north Houston. He confronted the suspects only to be fatally shot.

At Almendarez's funeral at Humble First Assembly of God, Zarzoza heartbreakingly recalled the final moments she had with her husband.

“Right now, to me, this is all a dream. I still can’t get those ugly images out of my head as much as I try to fight it,” she said, according to Houston NBC affiliate KPRC. "I can’t and I don’t know when I will be able to forget that night.”

Houston FOX affiliate KRIV reported that Zarzoza made the congregation laugh when she talked about how Almendarez was "a fraud to the county" because of his inability to speak Spanish. She said he used to ask her to translate certain words, the station reported.

The laughter then faded as Zarzoza proceeded to recount the last time she saw Almendarez alive.

"Your last words to me were, 'Wait right here, babe,' coming out of the store," she said as she fought back tears, according to KRIV. "And then you disappear on me. Then you said to me, 'Run, babe!' I couldn't leave – turn away from you. I walked away. Your next words were, 'Call 911, babe!' Then I ran to you. Your next words to me were, 'I love you, babe ... I can't breathe.'"

The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) estimated that around 200 of Almendarez's relatives attended the visitation and the funeral, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.

Almendarez, who was 51 years old when he died, worked in law enforcement for almost a quarter-century and was assigned to HCSO's auto theft division.