Wakes held for 10-year-old Uvalde, Texas school shooting victims - New York Post

The first wakes for some of the 21 victims of the Texas school massacre were held Monday — including one for a child who called 911 begging for help before being killed.

Little Amerie Jo Garza posthumously received the Girl Scout Bronze Cross for her bravery in trying to save her fourth-grade classmates. 

Hundreds of mourners stood in line to pay their respects to Amerie and a slain honor-roll classmate, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, at separate funeral homes in the heartbroken town of Uvalde less than a week after the mass shooting at the local Robb Elementary School.

Amerie Jo Garza had just turned 10 years old two weeks before the shooting in Uvalde. Amerie Jo Garza had turned 10 years old two weeks before the shooting in Uvalde. Facebook / Angel Garza Garza's wake is the first one held for the 21 shooting victims. Garza's wake is the first one held for the 21 shooting victims. James Keivom

Amerie — who was calling 911 for help when she was shot dead by deranged 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos — was being remembered at a daylong wake at the Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home.

Inside the funeral home, a portrait of the girl with angel wings adorned the front of the room — while the child's green Girl Scouts sash bearing her Bronze Star hung over a framed note.  

The fourth-grader turned 10 just two weeks before she was killed in last week's slaughter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. She is set to be buried Tuesday.

Her stepfather, medical technician Angel Garza, was tending to another victim when he learned the girl he raised as his own was among the dead, his mother told People magazine.

Maite Yuleana, 10, lost her life in the shooting at Robb Elementary School. She was celebrated as an honor roll student just hours before the massacre. Maite Yuleana, 10, was celebrated as an honor roll student just hours before the shooting.

"He was helping children," Berlinda Arreola said of her son.

She said he was told the tragic news about his stepdaughter when another student, covered in blood, told him it was Amerie's blood on her.

A wake also was being held for Maite, the youngest of three children and an honor student at Robb Elementary. The child will be buried Tuesday.

Her family described her in her obituary as "a sweet girl and those who know and loved her were blessed with her kind, ambitious, friendly and sweet soul."

Garza's stepfather Angel Garza, a medical technician, was working at the scene of the shooting when he learned of her death. Garza's stepfather Angel Garza — a medical technician — was working at the scene of the shooting when he learned of her death. James Keivom

Maite loved to learn about animals and the ocean, they said.

The girl's family asked for privacy while police moved reporters outside the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Chapel to across the street. 

A GoFundMe page to help her family pay for funeral costs and other expenses had surpassed $106,000 by Monday.

Wakes and funerals for the shooting victims are set to continue all week. Wakes and funerals for the shooting victims are set to continue all week. James Keivom

Other wakes and funerals for the victims will continue through the week.

In all, 19 fourth-graders and two adult teachers were killed in the massacre, one of the largest in US history and the deadliest elementary-school shooting since the slaughter of 26 students and educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Texas cops have taken heat for waiting more than an hour to storm Robb Elementary as it was under siege by Ramos. The feds are now probing the delayed response. 

People gather for a wake for Robb Elementary School mass shooting victim Amerie Jo Garza. People gather for a wake for Robb Elementary School mass shooting victim Amerie Jo Garza. James Keivom

"I feel like [law enforcement] failed our kids," mom Ivy Rocha told The Post on Monday, after driving from San Antonio to the school with her three kids and mom to pay their respects. "School is supposed to be safe. It's a scary feeling not knowing when it's going to happen or where it's going to happen.

"It could've been one of my kids," she said.

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