SAN ANTONIO – Community members in the Harlandale Independent School District are in shock after hearing the news that an 11-year-old boy was killed in a crash this weekend.
Andrew Alcorta was in a vehicle with his two teenage brothers and mother when it veered off the northbound lanes of Loop 410 near I-35.
The driver, Randy Perez, 43, is in custody, charged with intoxication manslaughter and three counts of intoxication assault.
"It's hard for her (Andrew's mother)," said Mercedes Cepeda Herrera, a neighbor who lives across the street from the family. "Right now, maybe she doesn't know her son is passed away."
Alcorta was a sixth-grade student at Leal Middle School. Rae-Ellen Navarro was his counselor at Leal, but she also knew Andrew since he was in pre-kinder, when she worked at the elementary school.
"He was a very happy boy," Navarro said. "He was well liked by his friends and by staff."
The crisis team at Leal Middle School is preparing for Tuesday, when Alcorta's classmates will return to school.
"This is a small community," Navarro said. "They've been together for a long time, and we're thinking about Andrew's friends."