The first funerals for victims killed in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history are expected to occur in Uvalde, Texas, one week after the massacre.
Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10 years old, will be laid to rest Tuesday following funeral services in the afternoon. Visitations for the students began on Monday.
The 21 people who died on May 24, 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in a mass shooting.
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The last photo ever taken of Jo Garza, at this year’s award’s day, was featured inside the Hillcrest Funeral Home where her visitation took place, one mourner told ABC Houston station KTRK.
“I can’t begin to imagine what these families are going through,” the woman said as she wiped away tears. “And that’s the hardest part. You know, if I could take a little bit of their pain away, I think I would.”
Raquel Martinez, comforts her two daughters while her husband, Daniel Martinez, comforts their sons outside Robb Elementary School, on May 26, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Martinez and her four children stayed home for days, holding each other. They’re scared, she said. Her two daughters, 15 and 11 years old, stood crying at a memorial. They’d both been taught by the two teachers who died, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles.
Wong Maye-e/AP
Visitations at the same funeral home also began on Tuesday for Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo and Jose Manuel Flores Jr., both 10 years old.
Twenty-one people, including 19 third and fourth graders and two teachers, were murdered on May 24 when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos allegedly opened fire at Robb Elementary School with an AR-15 style rifle he purchased days before.
A rose with a message hangs on a barricade at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 31, 2022, to honor the victims killed in last week’s school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Another 17 people, including three law enforcement officers, were injured in the attack.
Memorial services for victims are expected to take place in the small town through June 16.