San Antonio – A San Antonio mother is proud knowing her son’s organ donation saved another teen’s life, but she’s still devastated as the suspect responsible for his shooting death is still at large.
Jennifer Lugo is the mother of Jeremiah Guenther, a 16-year-old Edison High School student.
“He was such a strong individual,” Lugo said. “He was so accident-prone. I would joke and say they needed to rename the Emergency Room to Jeremiah.”
As Lugo spoke about her son, she couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.
“He just had a big heart,” Lugo said. “He was very respectful. He was very forgiving. He truly loved his nieces and nephew. He would have workout sessions with his nephew. Before he passed away, he was excited that he changed his first pamper. He was like, ‘I changed my first pamper! And I did it right from the front to back!’”
Lugo said her son was very family-oriented and was always a character.
“At birthdays, he would always hit the piñata last because he was such a big boy,” Lugo said. “He played football and basketball and we went to every one of his games.”
Lugo also said after Guenther’s death, she learned that he was a very bright student despite battling depression during the pandemic.
“He was in a lot of advanced classes,” Lugo said. “I struggled in school, so I was very proud seeing that he was getting prepped for college by the time he was in the seventh grade. I don’t think he understood how advanced he was because he was a child that got bored very easily, and when he was bored, he did give his teachers a hard time. No matter what, they pushed him and got him to pass.”
Lugo made it clear that she knew her son wasn’t perfect, but she was proud of the young man he turned out to be.
“No child is perfect, and he never judged anybody to be perfect,” she said. “He did have some disciplinary issues and went to Estrada Achievement Center but while he was there, he impacted so many. I really thank them because they really strive to guide these children in the right direction.”
Even though Lugo has many great memories of her son, those memories bring pain with the happiness.
On Dec. 14, 2021, San Antonio police said Guenther and his friends were at a West Side convenience store when an argument broke out between them and the suspect who pulled up in a dark gray Ford Focus.
“There was an altercation between the other kids that were with him,” Lugo said. “My oldest son got there and was able to calm down the tension.”
Lugo said to her knowledge, the fighting had calmed down, but something happened that aggravated the suspect who police said started shooting at the teens.
“My son was already in the back of his brother’s car,” Lugo said as she became emotional. “‘Everything just went blank’ my oldest said. He said he looked back and saw that Jeremiah had been hit.”
Lugo said he rushed his brother to the hospital, where he was declared brain-dead.
Lugo said she went crazy when she got the call.
“My world collapsed,” she said as she wept. “The day I got the phone call that he had been shot, I can’t explain the feeling inside myself. Something just grabbed me from inside and took everything from me. He has always been so strong. We almost lost him at childbirth, so I knew he was going to fight through this. But when I got to the hospital and they told me his circumstances, he had no chance.”
Lugo got a copy of her son’s fingerprint that she wears around her neck and she had Guenther cremated.
“I want my son back so bad,” she said. “I don’t wish this on any parent. I see these things on the news, and I tell everybody all that time that I don’t know what I would do if I was in that situation.”
Crimestoppers released surveillance footage of the suspect responsible for the shooting.
“Right now, we are just trying to prepare ourselves for what’s next,” Lugo said. “Right now, my question is, ‘Why?’ Why did the violence have to go that far? Why did you have to pull out a gun? What possessed you to feel you had a need to pull out a gun and then start shooting? I will in time forgive because not forgiving is not who we are. But it is hard to forgive him when we have no answer as to why he made those choices. Just turn yourself in and explain your side.”
Despite dealing with her loss, Lugo said she is thankful knowing her son’s death meant the life for another teen.
“University Hospital asked if we wanted him to be an organ donor, and We knew Jeremiah would have definitely said, ‘Mom, go for it!’ So, we signed up for it and we just got a letter from the other family. He was able to save another young lady at 16 by donating his liver to her.
“I am very proud to know that another life is able to live on with a little piece of Jeremiah because he was so strong,” Lugo said. “I miss his voice. I miss his voice in the mornings and I still wait for him to say something. I miss his ‘Goodnight Mom’s’ “Jeremiah won’t see another day of light. He won’t see one day from the next anymore except watching over us. Justice has to be served.”
If you have any information that could help investigators identify the man seen in the footage captured, you are urged to call Crimestoppers at 210-224-STOP.
