Felix Rubio and Kimberly Mata-Rubio attended a ceremony for their 10-year-old daughter Lexi at Rob Elementary School in Uwalde, Texas, on May 24. Lexi received an award for good citizen and awards for receiving all A grades in her classes.
Her parents did not expect their daughter to die later that day when an armed man opened fire on the school.
“This photo, her last photo, was taken around 10:54 a.m. To celebrate, we promised to get her ice cream that night. We told her we loved her and would take her after school. I can still see her walking with us to the exit. In the roll that keeps spinning in my memories, she turns her head and smiles at us to confirm my promise. And then we left, “Kimberly Mata-Rubio told lawmakers during a House of Representatives hearing on gun violence.
“I left my daughter in this school and this decision will haunt me for the rest of my life,” she said, crying.
She then returned to work at Uvalde Leader-News and heard of a shooting at a police scanner.
The parents realized that their son was safe, but could not find their daughter. Felix Rubio is a deputy patrol at the Uwalde County Sheriff’s Office.
“We focused on finding Lexi. Bus after bus arrived. But she was not on board. We heard there were children at the local hospital, so we went to give her a description. She was not there. My father drove an hour and a half to San Antonio to check with the university hospital. At that moment, some of me must have realized that she was gone. In the midst of the chaos, I wanted to go back to Rob. We didn’t have our car at the time. Traffic was everywhere. So I ran. I ran, barefoot, with my fragile sandals in hand. I ran a mile to school, my husband with me. We sat outside for a while before it became clear that we would not receive a response from the police on the spot, “she said.
Back in Uwalde, they learned that their daughter had been killed.
“We don’t want you to think of Lexi as a prime number. She was intelligent, compassionate and athletic. She was quiet, shy — unless she had something to say. When she knew she was right, as she often was, she stood her ground. She was firm, direct, with an unwavering voice, “said Mata-Rubio.
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