KYLE, Texas — When reflecting on what her 19-year-old brother Edgard Escobar was like, his sister Ashly Escobar tears up.
“He was very silly,” Ashly said.
But he also carried a lot of responsibility in their family, as the second of nine kids who was raised by a single mother, Danicia Martinez. She relied on him around their home.
“He would help me with the household expenses,” Martinez said.
But beyond providing financial help, he also was instrumental in the upbringing of his sisters like Fatemah Garcya.
“He’s like a father figure to me because I never had a dad in my life. So he kind of took that role for us,” Garcya said.
That support system is now stripped away after police say Escobar died of fentanyl poisoning at a home in Kyle on Saturday. Two other teens were treated and survived.
Isaac Arroyos of San Marcos has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he knowingly gave Escobar a pill laced with fentanyl.
“Knowing that it was one of his lifelong friends that had given it to him, it was really shocking,” Ashly said.
“My brother is going to get justice,” Garcya said.
While a quest for justice might be underway, his family now grieves over the moments they will not get to share.
“We can’t do anything together. We can’t like go out to eat anymore, he can’t take us shopping or anything,” Garcya said. “All those car rides. I don’t know, nothing’s going to be the same anymore.”
“You hear it from other people but you never expect it to impact your family,” Ashly said.
As Edgard’s family prepares to say goodbye, his family holds onto one last wish for the brother who always put them first.
“I just hope he gets to rest after all this, because he didn’t deserve this,” Garcya said.
Edgard’s family is raising money for his funeral expenses. They will be selling food on Friday at noon at 179 Quail Ridge Drive in Kyle.