SAN ANTONIO – A murder victim's mother is preparing for another bittersweet celebration of a life cut short on the second anniversary of her son's death.
Isaac Orosco would have turned 23 next Monday.
Janie Esparza said she and her family will gather at her son's grave site to remember the young man who wanted to join the Marines after he graduated from Warren High School in 2014, then someday get married and raise a family.
“He wanted to have kids. He wanted to give me grandchildren,” Esparza said. “Sadly, none of that is going to happen.”
Orosco was shot and killed July 28, 2016, after someone in a vehicle opened fire in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived with his mother.
San Antonio police report there have been no arrests, but they do have two persons of interest. They’re also trying to identify the vehicle and whoever was in the car that night. The moment was caught on a surveillance camera.
Esparza said she’s certain someone has more information to give police.
“I know they know what happened to my son, who did this to my son,” Esparza said.
She also had choice words for whoever pulled the trigger.
“You are a coward for doing this to my son, and you will get your day,” Esparza said.
Esparza said her son had never been threatened or expressed any concerns for his safety. She said she believes the shooting is rooted in a conflict he had with someone over social media. She said before he left that night to have dinner with a friend, he told her, “I’m going to come back early, Mom. I love you.”
Esparza responded by saying, “I love you, too.”
After finding her wounded son on the patio of their apartment, “I just remember telling him, ‘Mommy’s here. Mommy’s here. Don’t close your eyes.’”
Esparza said a retired registered nurse who tried to help before paramedics arrived told her that Orosco could hear her voice, because when she spoke, he gasped for breath. He would die later at University Hospital.
SAPD is asking anyone with more information to call the homicide unit at 210-207-7635.