A pair of students killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas who were sweethearts and exchanged “I love you” text messages will be buried next to each other, ABC News reported Wednesday.
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Xavier James Lopez, two students in the same fourth grade class at the school, would send each other “I love you” texts at bedtime and pass notes in class, ABC News reported. In addition, Rodriguez wore a picture of Lopez on her neck during all of his little league games or kept it in her backpack, also according to the outlet. The necklace with Lopez’s picture was given to Rodriguez by his mother, Felicha Martinez.
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez & Xavier James Lopez, sweethearts at Robb Elementary School, used to text each other “I love you” at bedtime.
This week they will be buried next to one another in Uvalde.
“I’m not ready,” Annabell’s mom told me.
https://t.co/9I0QLPJKtU @GMA @ABC pic.twitter.com/mCw76clR46
— Miles G. Cohen (@MilesGCohen) June 8, 2022
The students became sweethearts shortly after their first day of fourth grade when Rodriguez told her mother, Monica Gallegos about Lopez, saying that he dressed and smelled “really nice,” Gallegos said, according to ABC News. The children, who originally met as toddlers at a trailer park, also used to play tag together at barbecues their families hosted.
The children both attended an honor roll ceremony at their school prior to the fatal shooting that claimed both of their lives, the outlet reported. Because they were so close, their mothers made the decision to bury them side by side. Burials for both children will take place at Hillcrest Cemetery this week in Uvalde, Texas, the outlet indicated. (RELATED: 8 Examples Of People Being Incredible In The Face Of The Texas Massacre)
Rodriguez and Lopez were among the 19 children and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School on May 24 when an off-campus shooter allegedly entered the building, armed with both a handgun and a rifle.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating the local police’s response to the shooting after they allegedly did not immediately enter the school and confront the shooter.