SAN ANTONIO – A mother is devastated after learning her son, Abram Garcia, 20, was shot and killed by a 15-year-old while visiting a South Side home with his girlfriend.
San Antonio police said the shooting happened Monday night after the three got into an argument. While Garcia was getting into his car, the teen pulled the trigger, police said.
“I think it was around midnight when a family friend from Converse called and was trying to tell me the news about my son,” said Denise Castillo, Garcia's mother. “I can tell it was difficult for her because she didn’t really know how to tell me the details, but I knew something was wrong when she called. I knew. I just gave the phone to my husband, and I told him I just couldn't.”
Castillo said she has been waiting for days for police to tell her exactly what happened, but all they told her was that the investigation is still ongoing.
“I talked to the medical examiner and they were telling me that he was shot three times, but they still didn’t have a known cause of death and that I would have to wait until this was all over,” said Castillo.
Castillo said she never expected something like this to happen.
“It is devastating and heartbreaking,” she said. “I feel that Abram took a big part of me with him. A part of me is gone, and I am never going to get him back.”
Castillo said her son was a great and goofy man. He has been that way since he was little boy. She said his playfulness carried over into his adulthood.
“The day before he died, he called me up and was joking and was, like, ‘Hey, mom are you going to give me $2,000 to help me fix my truck?’ I just joked with him back like we usually did all the time,” Castillo said.
She said her proudest moment as a parent was seeing him graduate school.
“I remember he was working two jobs while he was going to high school and I remember how difficult it was for him,” Castillo said. “Some days he would go absent from school because he was working so hard trying to provide for his brothers and sisters. I told him he had to graduate and that it was very important, and he did just that. I was so proud of him, watching him walk across that stage.”
She said this loss hurts bad.
“There are times where I am just, like, 'Is this really happening? Is this real? Is he really gone?' And then I remember that he is. You never expect to get a phone call of someone telling you that your son has been murdered, especially by another kid," Castillo said.
Castillo said the teen who admitted to being the shooter in the death of her son is an old friend of Garcia.
“He had so many friends of all ages, even 50- and 60-year-olds. He was just very wise beyond his years," Castillo said.
She said it is going to be hard for her to forgive her son’s killer.
“He didn't just murder my son and (take) his life, he took his own. This is a kid who pretty much just gave up his freedom, because now he is going to be sitting behind bars. In all honesty, I am glad that he is. People just need to understand to slow down and really think about their anger before they act on it. This world is already chaotic enough.”
Castillo said her family is trying to stay strong as they continue to let Garcia's life be known to everyone.
“We are not asking for any donations,” Castillo said. “I am not asking for anyone’s help. So many people have been reaching out to us, so many of his friends that I didn’t even know. He was loved by so many, telling us if we needed anything all we had to do was ask. I just really want people and the entire world to know who my son was, his character and the type of personality he had. The more that I share about him the more that it helps me.”