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Shaq Rodriguez pours a bottle of liquor, as a ritual of respect, on the casket of Alexis Mercedes before he is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y. on Nov. 30, 2022. Mercedes was shot and killed on Nov. 19, 2023, at a late-night party. "We always had fun when we were together, sparring, drinking, dancing. "There's something very beautiful about what you see there, that's how we show him respect," says Rodriguez.