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As Ray High School seniors walked to the American Bank Center Friday afternoon dressed in robes, two seats remained empty.
Marked with white ks, the seats belonged to two coming seniors, Matthew Garcia and Marcello Saldua.
Garcia and Saldúa, both 18, died in a twist of fate after leaving graduation practice Tuesday at the American Bank Center.
They were pronounced dead at the scene of the turn of fate just before 11:30 a. m. and two other academics were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The twist of fate is still under investigation, however, speed and street racing were reportedly factors.
More: Ray High School Students Killed in Twist of Fate Identified
At the graduation rite they were supposed to attend, their classmates and families loudly applauded the two children as Ray High School Principal Roxanne Cuevas read their names and offered her condolences.
The day before graduation, many spectators spent Thursday night at Heritage Park at a candlelight prayer vigil called by Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo.
When the crescent moon rose, the friends, family, and classmates of the two children piled up in the park. Some came here with candles and flowers. When other people entered, they placed red ribbons on their clothes, the color selected to reflect Ray High School.
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Tears flowed and hugs were exchanged freely throughout the night, as the crowd listened from school and city officials.
“There are no words that seem good enough to explain the pain of our network following the loss of two of our city’s young adults days before graduating from the best school,” Guajardo said. “We deeply mourn the loss of those two young men. men. My center is absolutely broken. “
Cuevas shared a school motto the vigil.
“We have a saying in our school,” Cuevas said. True to Ray, we will be. ‘”in combination to mourn the loss of Matthew and Marcello. “
In addition to the music of singer Sarah Garcia, the leaders spoke, in addition to the Rev. Pete Elizardo of the Cathedral of Corpus Christi.
“The disturbing questions that cross our minds are ‘How?’they don’t get to the truth. “
Elizardo said the network will be with the families of Garcia and Saldúa.
“When we combine with the good looks of those lives, I know what the brain-restricted needs to do,” Elizardo said. “He needs us to think only about how our brothers died. My expensive family, I ask you now. My dear friends marcello and Matthew, I now ask you and all of us. Don’t do that. Don’t restrict your lives to how you died. “
Elizardo asked the crowd to moments of joy and laughter.
Once the remarks were over, those in front of the crowd lit their candles, turning to split their flames and extinguish the candles of those behind them. Flashing lamps lit up the park.
After one last sentence, the crowd began to come out, but many remained in the dark in the waning light for another hour. Ruben Flores, 18, made his way through the lingering crowd with a pack of silver balloons. Mourners stopped to write messages about the balloons.
“These are our last words,” Flores said. This is the last time we say anything. None of us say goodbye. “
Flores said he is an intelligent friend of the two children, calling them his “brothers,” and that he is also Garcia’s cousin.
When the last few people added their messages to the balloons, the crowd calmed down. Flores distributed the balloons to the people, who released them temporarily, watching them in the sky.
In the days after the accident, friends and family circle reflected on Garcia and Saldúa.
For Garcia, a high school degree more than a role, said his aunt Maribel Duran. As the eldest of 4 siblings, he would have been the first in his circle of relatives to graduate.
“He wanted his circle of family members to be proud that he would do anything on his own,” Duran said. “He wanted to show his brother and sisters that he was going to finish school when many children don’t have or already have children. “. His brother and sisters admired him. “
Garcia, a calm-spoken “teddy bear,” read the Bible to his blind grandfather and protected his disabled cousin who suffered harassment, he said.
“He’s very humble, caring, loving, selfless,” Duran said. He went out of his way to take care of everyone. “
He liked football and played his time at Cunningham Middle School. In high school, he found a job to help take care of his family and pay for graduation expenses.
“He didn’t need to overwhelm the family,” Duran said. “He looked for his prom to go perfect and he wanted his parents not to worry. “
Recognized as a hard worker through his friends, Saldua hoped to one day take care of his mother.
“He was so excited,” said his friend Jeremiah Curiel, 18. “He told me the day before he passed away how satisfied he was and how well he was to start his life. I told him I was proud of him. “
Curiel, a student at West Oso High School, met Saldua at school number one. Saldua transferred to Ray High School in his freshman year. He remembered Saldua as a Dallas Cowboys fan who had a smile on his face.
“His laughter was very brilliant and it’s something I’m going to miss to the fullest about him,” Curiel said. friends succeed. . . but what we liked most about him was that he was worried and that he is someone you can expect to be there for you no matter what.
Olivia Garrett reports on education and network news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia. garrett@caller. com. You can do local journalism by subscribing to Caller-Times.
This article was originally published in Corpus Christi Caller Times: Ray High School is mourning Matthew Garcia and Marcello Saldua