The 10-year-old girl who died in the Texas shooting wanted to attend Texas A&M University and be a marine biologist. “She was just so driven. She was definitely special. She was going to be something, she was going to be something very, very special,” said Ana Rodríguez, mother of Maite Rodriguez.
Maite was among 19 grade school students who, along with two teachers, were shot to death at Robb Elementary School in the southwestern Texas town of Uvalde. The 18-year-old gunman was also killed by the police.
As a kindergartner, Maite said she wanted to be a marine biologist and held firmly to that goal. She researched a programme at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi and told her mother she was set on studying there. Her mother described her as “focused, competitive, smart, bright, beautiful, happy.”
“She was charismatic. She was goal driven. She was ambitious. She was determined. She was focused. She was competitive. Smart, bright, beautiful, happy.”
Ana Rodríguez remembers her daughter, Maite, one of 19 children and two teachers killed at school in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/Hw1zMmEmAN
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 28, 2022
Jacklyn Cazares, who would have turned 10 on June 10, was a tough-minded “firecracker” who wanted to help people in need, her father said. Jacklyn and her second cousin, Annabell Rodriguez, were especially tight with three other classmates at Robb Elementary School.
“They are all gone now,” Javier Cazares said. “All her little best friends were killed too.”
Meanwhile, a report of The Guardian mentioned the details of the victims. According to the report, all the children who died in the shooting were in the same fourth-grade classroom.
The victims have been identified as, Uziyah Garcia (8), Xavier Lopez (10), Amerie Jo Garza (10), Jose Flores (10), Rogelio Torres (10), Makenna Lee Elrod (10), Tess Marie Mata (10 ), Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez (10), Ellie Garcia (10), Nevaeh Bravo, Eliahana Cruz Torres (10), Jailah Nicole Silguero (11), Jayce Carmelo Luevanos (10), Alithia Ramirez (10), Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares (10 ), Alexandria Aniyah Rubio (10), Maite Rodriguez (10), Miranda Mathis (11), Layla Salazar (10).
Besides 19 children, two teachers, identified as Eva Mireles (44), Irma Garcia (46), were also killed in the incident.