The grieving husband of a teacher killed in the Uvalde school shooting has reportedly passed away from a heart attack.
Joe Garcia was the husband of Irma Garcia, who reportedly placed herself between the shooter and her students.
Garcia’s nephew, John Martinez, wrote on Twitter that he died from "grief." The couple had been married for 24 years.
"EXTREMELY heartbreaking and come with deep sorrow to say that my Tia Irma’s husband Joe Garcia has passed away due to grief, i truly am at a loss for words for how we are all feeling, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY, God have mercy on us, this isn’t easy," Martinez tweeted with a photo of the couple. EXTREMELY heartbreaking and come with deep sorrow to say that my Tia Irma’s husband Joe Garcia has passed away due to grief, i truly am at a loss for words for how we are all feeling, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY, God have mercy on us, this isn’t easy pic.twitter.com/GlUSOutRVV
— john martinez ❤️🔥 (@fuhknjo) May 26, 2022
Garcia had reportedly visited the memorial for the victims on Thursday and collapsed when he returned home. The Uvalde tragedy multiplies in a heartbreaking way:
The husband of 1 of 2 teachers killed at Robb Elem died Thurs of a heart attack.
Joe Garcia visited his wife Irma's memorial Thu am, then returned home & collapsed.
They had 4 children, had been married 24 years.
(NYT) pic.twitter.com/xP47GXekuG
— (((Charles Fishman))) (@cfishman) May 26, 2022
The couple had four children.
"I have my eldest Cristian son completing Marine boot camp and another son Jose attending Texas State university Univeristy. My eldest daughter Lyliana will be a sophomore in high school and my youngest Alysandra will be a 7th grader this year," the teacher's biography on the school's website says.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up for the family.
"Irma was a wife, a mother of 4, a cousin, a sister a daughter, an aunt and a wonderful person. She would literally do anything for anybody......no questions asked. She loved her classroom kids and died trying to protect them. Please donate anything you can to help her family. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Garcia family for various expenses. Thank you and God bless," the GoFundMe's original description read.
An update to the page adds, "I am equally devasted to report Irma's husband Joe has tragically passed away this morning(5/26/2022) as a result of a medical emergency. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than 25 years was too much to bear."
Over $100,000 had been raised within the first day.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the tragic shooting.
