With Richard Acosta Jr. in jail in lieu of $3 million bail, police are still looking for his son, Abel Acosta, believed to have been the gunman in Sunday’s mass shooting.
By Wendy Selene Pérez and Krista M. Torralva
Under a brilliant sunny sky, two of the three teenagers gunned down at Garland gas station last weekend were laid to rest Thursday.
More than 50 people attended burial services at Garland Memorial Park for 16-year-old Ivan Noyala, who was slain along with 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez and 17-year-old Rafael Garcia. A 15-year-old boy survived the mass shooting; he hasn’t been identified.
Ivan’s mother wailed as his casket was lowered into the ground. Relatives held onto her arms and fanned her as she crouched forward and wept.
“Why did they do this to my son?” she cried in Spanish.
After soil covered his casket, friends and family gathered around the grave and released blue and white balloons. A group of teenage boys, all in black jeans, wrapped their arms around one another and gazed solemnly at Ivan’s final resting spot.
Ivan lived with his mother, brothers, grandmother and two uncles. Rafael, the older shooting victim, also lived with the family, said Ivan’s uncle Luciano Macedonio. Rafael’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.
Loved ones recalled Ivan as a hard-working young man who brought joy to others.
“What I’m really going to miss is his smile,” said his 19-year-old brother, Edgar Noyala.
‘Worked seven days a week’
Maria Mendoza, who identified herself as another relative, said Ivan was good to his mother and grandmother and helped his family with money.
“He worked with his uncle in a company named PCA every week,” Mendoza said. “He worked Saturdays and Sundays in the Seagoville Flea Market selling household items in a stand managed by his mom and grandma. He worked seven days a week.”
Brenda Martínez said she taught Ivan when he was a seventh-grader at Jackson Middle School.
“Ivan was one of the best-behaved students. He always treated me with respect, and he was the sweetest kid, she said. “It’s a great loss. … I don’t know how something like this could’ve happened.”
Toward the end of the ceremony, teens in attendance put white flowers over Ivan’s grave. They embraced one other, heads lowered in sadness.
“He was a good kid,” one said.
‘Mi hijo!’
Xavier Gonzalez was laid to rest earlier in the day Thursday.
Family members have said that Xavier was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, buying food and texting his girlfriend when the gunman fired into the store.
Xavier’s grandparents embraced Thursday morning while his mother, Lluneli Lopez, lay on his casket, weeping and crying out “mi hijo!” — “my son!” Lopez released a dove into the sky before her son’s casket was lowered into the ground.
His uncle Rafael Gonzalez said Wednesday that Xavier enjoyed working with the cattle at his grandfather’s ranch and helping family members on construction jobs. Other relatives have said he was industrious, made friends easily and dreamed of becoming a ranch hand or cowboy.
Savanah Gonzalez, a cousin, teasingly said they were the black sheep of the family.
“We were always the ones to get in trouble together, sneak out together, go do stuff together and get caught together,” she said. “And to now know that my best friend is gone, it’s just …”
Suspect at large
Garland police said Thursday that 14-year-old Abel Elias Acosta, who they believe was the triggerman, remains at large.
The Dallas Morning News does not typically name juveniles accused of a crime but is making an exception because Garland police believe the teen is armed and poses a threat to public safety.
A reward for information that leads to Acosta’s capture has been increased to $10,000, police said.
His father, 33-year-old Richard Acosta Jr., is believed to have driven Abel to and from the gas station and turned himself in to police on Monday.
Richard Acosta faces a capital murder charge and remains in the Dallas County jail, with bail set at $3 million. His court-appointed lawyer, Heath Harris, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Police say Richard Acosta parked a white Dodge pickup outside the food mart at the Texaco station Sunday night. His son got out of the pickup with a .40-caliber pistol, snuck up alongside the store, opened the door and fired at least 20 rounds inside before fleeing.
Police have said the shooting was in retaliation for a prior dispute but did not elaborate on the situation. They did, however, say that neither Xavier nor the wounded 15-year-old was the shooter’s intended target.
Fundraisers for funerals
GoFundMe accounts have been established for all three slaying victims to help the victims’ families pay for funeral expenses.
