A San Antonio woman says she’s having to relive the tragic death of her brother because Medina Valley ISD moved his memorial from outside of Medina Valley Middle School without her knowledge.
Becky Espino lost her brother, Tony, when he was 13 years old.
“His friend was playing with the gun and the gun went off and killed him in our house. He died instantly,” she said.
While her family was overwhelmed by the tragedy, she says that they were also touched by the way her brother’s friends and loved ones came together.
“Seeing a flow and constant love and reminder of his friendship and what that meant to his classmates meant more than you can know,” she said.
Now, the memorial that once stood outside the middle school, is now on a couch in her home. She says that a friend tipper her off that the memorials were being removed. And now she wants to know why the school district never informed her about what was happening.
She wants to make sure that the other families who have memorials for their loved ones on Medina Valley campuses know what’s going on.
“I want to know why it happened, but also to know that they’re going to do something with the ones that are still left behind. Do the right thing, contact those families, let them know,” she said.
In a statement to KENS 5, Dr. Kenneth Rohrbach, superintendent for Medina Valley ISD, said that three memorial stones were moved because of construction. They are being stored at a maintenance facility until they can find a suitable place to relocate them.
Becky Espino says that the incident has caused her family even more pain.
“To have to relive that last night and today and have to explain to my mother that her baby and she’s very proud of my brother, all of us, but that’s her baby, my mom had to experience those emotions again,” she said.