A young boy who loved to dance, a girl who was “the happiest ever” — here’s a closer look at four of the victims of the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
– Amerie Jo Garza, the big sister –
Amerie Jo Garza, a young girl with a brilliant smile, had just celebrated her 10th birthday in mid-May.
For unbearably long hours on Tuesday, her father Angel Garza had no news of her.
“I don’t ask for much or hardly even post on here but please it’s been 7 hours and I still haven’t heard anything on my love,” he wrote on Facebook, along with a photo of him hugging his grinning daughter.
Several hours later, he posted again.
“Thank you everyone for the prayers and help trying to find my baby,” he said. “My little love is now flying high with the angels above.”
“I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me.”
– Ellie Garcia, ‘a doll’ –
“Our Ellie was a doll and was the happiest ever,” Ellie Garcia’s father, Steven Garcia, wrote on Facebook. “I was gonna DJ for her at her party like she wanted me too!!!”
“Mom and Dad love you never forget that and please try and stay by our side,” he added.
Ellie’s mother Jennifer Lugo also posted many photos of her daughter on social media. “My heart is broken,” she wrote alongside a photo of Ellie at her first communion in 2021, dressed in white and beaming at the camera.
“I feel so numb. I miss you baby!!!!!”
– Eva Mireles, teacher –
Eva Mireles was one of two teachers killed Tuesday by the 18-year-old gunman. In her early forties, she had been teaching for 17 years.
She loved running and hiking, according to a short biography of her posted on the school website.
“And now you just might see me riding a bike!!” she added.
Mireles is survived by her husband, a daughter and three pets.
– Xavier Lopez, the dancer –
Xavier Lopez, 10, “loved to dance,” his uncle Benito Martinez told Fox News Tuesday night.
“Oh man, he would dance even when he sweated but he didn’t care,” Martinez said of his young, dark-haired nephew.
“This past Sunday he was at my daughter’s birthday party,” Martinez said, smiling at the memory. “He was dancing.”
