Victim of shooting at gender-reveal celebration dies in hospital, family says
One of five victims of an April 11 shooting at a gender-reveal party in Fort Worth has died, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Alexa Nares Martinez, 24, died Wednesday at John Peter Smith Hospital, according to online records.
Martinez had a “loving spirit” and “vibrant, bubbly personality that brought joy to everyone she met,” her family wrote in an online obituary. “She had a natural ability to light up a room with her smile and laughter, leaving a lasting impression on family, friends, and all who knew her.”
Investigators determined that an argument among people at the party escalated when 22-year-old Jose Manuel Garcia began shooting, the Star-Telegram initially reported.
Other guests at the party became concerned when Garcia kept “adjusting and displaying” a handgun in his waistband over the duration of the event, according to an affidavit. Another man at the party told Garcia to put the gun in his car because there were children present.
Garcia pointed the firearm at another man, who produced his own weapon, and there was an exchange of gunfire between the men, police said.
Garcia was arrested and faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Updated information on his charges was not immediately available Saturday.
