El Paso Walmart shooting victims remembered, but closure may never come to their families

Yahoo

3 days ago

The families of those killed in the Walmart mass shooting came together to share memories of their loved ones at the sixth anniversary of the El Paso Walmart mass shooting, but there has been no closure, even as the gunman will spend his life in prison.
"No, I will never get closure," Dora Lizarde, grandmother of 15-year-old Javier Rodriguez, who was killed in the shooting, said in Spanish. "It (criminal case) is over, but for us it isn't. He (Javier) will never come back."
Victims' families, shooting survivors and El Paso community members gathered Sunday night, Aug. 3, for the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting to remember those killed and wounded. The Day of Remembrance memorial was held at the El Paso Community Healing Garden National Memorial in Ascarate Park.
The event was attended by more than 100 people, including prominent El Paso leaders District Attorney James Montoya, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, County Attorney Christina Sanchez, El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson and El Paso County Sheriff Oscar Ugarte.
The family members sat by the plaques honoring their loved ones, crying, hugging and smiling at times when telling stories of those they lost.
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"He was always joking," said Patricia Benavides, who lost her husband Arturo in the mass shooting, as she smiled and tears rolled down her face. "He was always laughing. He loved food. He was always telling me not to ration his dinner. We would go everywhere together. He was always a very, very good husband.
"I miss him a lot. It's been hard for all of us. I feel my house is now too big for me. I need him. I need him, but there's nothing I can do."
Memorial comes months after gunman's sentencing
The sixth anniversary of the shooting came just months after the Aug. 3, 2019, Walmart mass shooter pleaded guilty to fatally shooting 23 people and injuring 24 more in a racially-motivated mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. The gunman was sentenced to 23 life sentences on April 21.
"Even six years later, it doesn't get any easier, certainly not for the families directly affected, certainly not for the survivors," Montoya said. "There is never going to be closure. All we can really do is continue living in their memory, honoring their memory and live how they would want us to."
The gunman's name was never mentioned during the memorial event. The scars and trauma of reliving the events months earlier at the gunman's sentencing were still fresh for the victims' families and the survivors.
"Every year we have a better sense of where the community is at," Samaniego said. "But this year we don't because it's too quick after the sentencing. I've been talking to the families to see what we're going to do next year, because then it'll be a continuation of remembering and honoring their loved ones. But this year, it's about coming together and staying together after the experience they had to go through in court just months ago."
Never forget the victims
Patricia Benavides and Lizarde said they thank the El Paso community for their support over the last six years, but asked for the community to continue remembering and honoring the victims of the shooting.
"I feel a lot of support and a lot of people have shown how much they care about us and sympathize with us," Patricia Benavides said. "We were not expecting anything like this to happen in El Paso. I hope that El Paso never, never, never forgets about this tragedy and they keep on praying for the families."
Lizarde added in Spanish, "Time passes and people forget, I hope that El Paso will never forget, no matter how much time passes."
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The memorial featured music by El Paso Pro Musica musicians before a prayer was recited and the names of the 23 victims were read. As each name was read, a light behind the memorial wall was lit up, until all 23 lights met high in the El Paso summer night sky.
Remembering the victims
The 23 people killed in the El Paso Walmart shooting were:
Jordan Anchondo
Maribel Campos
Arturo Benavidez
Andre Pablo Anchondo
Javier Amir Rodriguez
David Alvah Johnson
Sara Ester Regalado Moriel
Angelina Silva Englisbee
Adolfo Cerros Hernandez
Juan de Dios Veláquez Chairez
Gloria Irma Márquez
Maria Flores
Maria Eugencia Legarreta Rothe
Raul Flores
Jorge Calvillo Garcia
Alexander Gerhard Hoffman
Elsa Mendoza de la Mora
Luis Alfonzo Juarez
Ivan Filiberto Manzano
Margie Reckard
Leonardo Campos Jr.
Teresa Sanchez
Guillermo "Memo" Garcia
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at [e-mail] or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso honors victims on sixth anniversary of Walmart mass shooting