The first wakes were held on May 30, 2022, for victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The first two wakes were in honor of Amerie Jo Garcia and Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, both fourth-grade students at the school.
Amerie and Maite were classmates.
Amerie was calling 911 when she was shot by the gunman. Her stepfather, Angel Garza, arrived at the school as a first responder and was taking care of other victims when he found out that Amerie had died.
Maite Rodriguez was the youngest of three children and was known as an excellent student. Her family wrote that Maite was "a sweet girl and those who know and loved her were blessed with her kind, ambitious, friendly and sweet soul."
Both girls will be buried on May 31, 2022.
A GoFundMe page has been established for Maite's funeral costs and for her family. The GoFundMe was set up by a family member, who wrote, in part, "It is with a heavy heart I come on here on behalf of my cousin Ana who lost her sweet baby girl in yesterday's senseless shooting we are deeply saddened by the lose of this sweet smart little girl."
Angel Garza recounted how he found out he had lost Amerie, telling CNN, "One little girl was just covered in blood head to toe. I thought she was injured, I asked her what was wrong. She said she was OK — she was hysterical, saying that they shot her best friend, that they killed her best friend, she was not breathing. I asked the little girl the name, and … she said Amerie."
Amerie had just celebrated her 10th birthday two weeks before the attack and was given a cellphone as a gift. Her friends later told Angel that she tried to use the phone to get help. He explained, "She's been wanting a phone for so long and we finally got it for her. She was just trying to call authorities, and I guess he just shot her."
He then said, "How do you look at this girl and just shoot her? Oh my baby. How do you shoot my baby?"
