Mourners will gather on Monday to remember a 9-year-old Uvalde girl who loved “Encanto,” TikTok and dancing.
Eliahna “Ellie” Garcia will be remembered in a funeral mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 10 a.m. Her burial will take place at Hillcrest Cemetery.
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Ellie died on May 24 along with 18 of her classmates at Robb Elementary School. Two of their teachers also died in the mass shooting.
Ellie was supposed to turn 10 years old on Saturday, according to her obituary. Her family told the Associated Press that she had been hoping to receive gifts related to the Disney movie “Encanto.”
“She loved that movie and talked a lot about it,” said her aunt, Siria Arizmendi.
In the aftermath of her death, her parents said that Disney sent them a letter and a custom dress from the movie.
Ellie was “very happy and very outgoing,” Arizmendi told the Associated Press.
Arizmendi, an elementary school teacher in the same district, said the Eliahna “loved to dance and play sports. She was big into family, enjoyed being with the family.”
She wanted to be a cheerleader, loved playing basketball and loved making TikToks, her dad, Steven Garcia, told the Today Show. She couldn’t wait for her quinceañera.
She was the second oldest of five girls and loved spending time with her sisters.
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