SAN ANTONIO – Diana Negrete is approaching a painful first anniversary of the day her son, Garry Torres Jr., was shot and killed.
"I really desperately need closure," she said. "It's like being lost."
Torres was shot during the afternoon of Ash Wednesday last year. According to a police report, on Feb. 10, a witness heard what sounded like a gunshot from the back of a residence in the 300 block of Cactus Street, where Torres lived.
Police found Torres across the street, lying on the sidewalk with an apparent gunshot wound. He was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where he died late that night.
"I didn't even get to see him in the hospital, because they couldn't find me," Negrete said. "Most people, when you pass on, you always say your goodbyes, you know? And I never got to do that."
As her son grew up, Negrete said she sometimes felt he was living on borrowed time.
"As they're adults, you can tell them and tell them, 'Stop hanging around with a bad crowd. Stop hanging around with certain people.' But they're going to do what they want to do, ultimately," she said.
At 35 years old, Torres' time was up, and his mother doesn't know what happened the day it ended.
"It could have been gang related. It could have been drug related," Negrete said. "I don't know."
Answers are in short supply, and the detective, Negrete said, "says that he just doesn't have any leads." She hopes someone out there does.
"Somebody come forward and give some details," Negrete said. "There has to be somebody who saw something or knows something."
Anyone with information on Torres' death can contact Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867. They will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for Torres' death.