Family: Husband of teacher killed in Texas school shooting has died of a heart attack

The grief-stricken husband of a teacher killed Tuesday in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, died on Thursday of a heart attack, his family announced.

Irma Garcia, 48, was one of the two teachers killed in the massacre. Her husband, Joe Garcia, 50, visited a memorial to his wife on Thursday to drop off flowers, his nephew John Martinez told The New York Times, and when he returned home, "he pretty much just fell over." In an interview with NBC News, Martinez said first responders "tried doing chest compressions and nothing worked ... they couldn't bring him back."

Irma and Joe Garcia were married for 24 years, and had four children, with the youngest in their teens.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Martinez told the Times his aunt was "optimistic about everything and just so loving with the people in her life." He also shared that when law enforcement officers entered Garcia's classroom after the shooting, they "found her body there, embracing children in her arms pretty much until her last breath."