Ronnie Polaneczky

Slain cabbie's daughter gets 5G

Irma Aponte received 5G from Daniel Faulkner Scholarship Fund on the day she attended a hearing for her dad's alleged killer (ALAN BRIAN NILSEN / DAILY NEWS)

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN too cynical to believe in angels, omens and stuff like that. But Irma Aponte's story might make a convert of me.

Last Dec. 13, 19-year-old Irma was filling out the entrance forms to attend computer school. The application fee was $100. She had only $50. So she called her dad to ask for a loan. Jamie Aponte, a driver for Yellow Taxi, said he'd be glad to help. He knew this would be a good step forward for his daughter.

A few years back, Irma had dropped out of high school - "We all make our mistakes," she says - but she'd recently gotten her GED and had big plans. She wanted to attend culinary school and open her own restaurant, but first she wanted to learn about computers.

"You can't be a successful businessperson unless you have computer skills," she says.

That night, her dad told her, if he had a good shift, he'd give her the $50 she needed. He said to check with him the next day.

She never got the chance. A few hours after their conversation, a robber murdered Jamie Aponte in his cab in North Philly.

You remember the headlines about the murder, don't you? Recently remarried, 36-year-old Jamie Aponte was days from celebrating his first anniversary with his new wife and their combined brood of six kids. The heartbreaking photos that accompanied stories of his murder showed a sweet-faced man with a wide grin and sparkling eyes, beaming alongside his bride on their wedding day.

Police eventually charged a New York man named James Sagett with the murder. Two weeks ago, Irma Aponte and her family attended Sagett's preliminary hearing in Municipal Court.

It was wrenching for Irma. She thought a lot about her dad, and how proud he'd be that she kept her promise to go back to school. She's now enrolled in an 18-month programming course that costs $21,000. She works two jobs to pay what loans won't cover.

"I worry about money a lot," she says. "If my dad were here, I know he'd help if he could."

The evening of the preliminary hearing, Irma answered the phone in the Delaware County apartment she shares with her new husband, who's also a full-time student. On the line was a guy named Jerry Watkins, and he asked if Irma could use a $5,000 grant to pay tuition, no strings attached.

"Would that make you happy or sad?" he asked the flabbergasted Irma.

Watkins explained that he runs a scholarship fund overseen by Justice for Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, the nonprofit group organized to honor the memory of the Philly cop slain by Mumia Abdul Jamal.

By an eerie coincidence, Watkins had been carrying around a news clip from the Aponte murder, wondering if one of the Aponte children might be candidates for the fund. The fact that he offered Irma a grant on the day of her father's alleged killer's hearing, well, Irma has a theory about that.

"The last conversation I had with my dad was about money for my education," she says softly. "So, to get a phone call offering me a big grant on the day of the preliminary hearing, I think it could be some kind of sign. My mom thinks it's my dad's way of telling me he's still looking out for me, that he didn't forget his promise."

Oh, how I hope so.

How I hope that the love of a parent for his child transcends the grave. That the desire to help and protect our young ones will never be thwarted, not even by a bullet fired on a cold night on a dark street by an evil monster.

And that our connections will survive not just in memory but in bittersweet ways as tangible as a sorely needed $5,000 check, delivered unexpectedly by a kind stranger, wanting nothing more than to help. *

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