Father of Uvalde victim Jackie Cazares shares grief, frustration with police
UVALDE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) -- Nearly two months after the devastating shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, one father is sharing his grief and frustrations following his daughter's death.
"She was your typical 9-year-old kid you know... happy, big-hearted, you know always willing to do things for other people. Always thinking about other people before herself," Javier Cazares said.
His daughter, Jackie Cazares, was one of 21 victims killed in the May 24 massacre.
Cazares shared that just two weeks before, Jackie did her first communion.
"She was dressed like an angel in it... Wearing a white dress and a crown covered in flowers," he explained. It would be the same dress she was later laid to rest in.
Cazares says these days it's the little things about his daughter he misses the most.
"It's sad that I just can't hear her voice," he said. "Usually, I'll be in the living room and her room was right behind the wall. I could always hear her giggling and having fun... it's sad because I don't hear that anymore."
They dreamed of taking a trip to Paris one day as a family and seeing the Eiffel Tower; However, their family was dealt a double tragedy instead.
Jackie's cousin, 10-year-old Annabell Rodriguez, was in the same classroom as her and was also killed in the shooting.
"I love my little niece, too... it's just everybody is hurting in different ways," Cazares said.
And though the growing memorial will one day go away, and the school will soon be torn down, unanswered questions are likely to remain in the small town.
For Cazares, his main question is why officers didn't go in even when parents like him begged them to.
"I just saw the ones that were outside and when we heard those gunshots, they didn't rush in... they just said get back get back," he recalled.
Much of the anger in Uvalde is directed specifically at Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief.
Since the tragedy, Arredondo has been placed on leave and has also resigned from his recent position as a city council member.
Now, grieving parents are asking for gun reform.
"For a rifle, you can get it within minutes, and that's sad that it's that easy," Cazares said. "There just has to be changes, and it has to be stricter."
