SAN ANTONIO — A memorial was held Wednesday afternoon in Elmendorf to remember 20-year-old Bexar County Sheriff's deputy Meredith Portillo.
She was killed along with her good friend, Koree Alcoser. His mother, Peggy Gaeta, told KENS 5 that Portillo and her son had been friends since middle school.
"He had a big heart; he would do anything for anyone,” Gaeta said.
At 20 years old, Alcoser was still considered a baby boy in his mother’s eyes.
“He was just a great kid overall,” she said.
Alcoser went out Sunday night with Portillo to have a good time.
“I remember him come telling me, ‘OK mom, I’ll be back.’ I was like ‘OK.’ And that was last I saw him,” she said.
When her son didn’t return home, Gaeta knew something was wrong. She reached out to a mutual friend who gave her Portillo’s phone number but she didn’t answer, so she says she drove to the home of Portillo's parents.
“And that’s when I found out about the accident and I still had no word about how my son was,” she said.
Gaeta eventually found out a wrong-way driver heading north in the southbound lanes of I-37, close to Loop 1604, collided into Meredith's car, where Alcoser was in the back seat. Shortly after, an officer called Gaeta.
"And that’s when he came to tell me that my son was gone,” she said.
What Gaeta wants the community to know is that her son was loved by many and she hopes he’s happy in heaven.
“I’m going to miss him so much, because we were just so close,” Gaeta said.