The husband of one of the teachers slain in the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school this week died on May 26 from an apparent heart attack, family members said.
According to the teacher’s official biography, the Garcias had been married for 24 years and had four children.
“I love to BBQ with my husband, listen to music, and take country cruises to Concan,” Irma Garcia wrote in the bio.
Family members took to social media to lament the newest loss.
“Lord god please on our family, my [tia’s] husband passed away this morning due to a heart attack at home,” Joey, one of Irma Garcia’s nephews, wrote on Twitter.
“I’m really in shock right now,” he added.
Martinez said on Twitter that Irma and Joe Garcia were high school sweethearts and leave behind children aged 13, 15, 19, and 23.
“No child should have to go through this. My heart breaks for them,” he said.
Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, another teacher at Robb Elementary School, and 19 children were killed on May 24 by a shooter identified by authorities as Salvador Ramos, 18. Ramos was killed by officers, according to Texas authorities.
Family members have said Garcia and Mireles died trying to protect their students.
Garcia “sacrificed herself protecting the kids in her classroom,” according to Martinez.
Adalynn Ruiz, Mireles’s daughter, said on Facebook that her mother “selflessly jumped in front of her students to save their lives.”
“Mom, I have no words to describe how I feel right now, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life,” Ruiz wrote. “Mom, you are a hero. I keep telling myself that this isn’t real. I just want to hear your voice.”
