4 tragic deaths and one severe injury at one-year olds birthday party

Around 5:15 pm on Saturday, October 13, 2018, a latino gathering of family and friends camped for a one-year old’s party in Taft, Corpus Christi, Southern Texas, United States.

Not only was one person seriously injured with his life in the balance, four people are dead.

The wounded 43-year old, a father whose three sons were all killed in the shooting, Juan Espinoza Jr., was airlifted to a Corpus Christi hospital, he might yet survive.

According to CNN, the four deaths were; Grandfather, 62-year-old Juan Espinoza Sr. and grandsons; 20-year-old Juan Sandoval III; 22-year-old Jeremy Sandoval; and 25-year-old Nicky Sandoval. He said the three younger men are grandsons to Juan Espinoza Sr.

Authorities confirm the people involved were relatives and the matter started over a simple argument, “an argument over something real small and it escalated real quickly to where guns were involved.”

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Nathan Brandley also confirmed that while no arrests have been made, 20-year-old Ronnie Rodriguez Jr. was in custody, as is his 37-year-old father, Ronnie Rodriguez Sr. as suspects.

Confirming the close family ties and familiarity of the warring parties was Belinda Espinoza, the daughter of Juan Espinoza Sr. She says that she grew around the suspects. She also says her father was a farmer with a big heart, “He did everything he could for us. He was happily married to his first and only love my mother, Eulalia Sandoval.”

On her deceased brother, Juan Espinoza Jr., she says, Juan Espinoza Jr., “would give the shirt off his back for others and his children. He always opened his home to anyone.”

Jeremy Sandoval leaves behind a young son and a wife.