Loved ones say goodbye to teen killed at Astroworld Festival
HOUSTON -
A week after a 16-year-old local high school student was killed at the Astroworld Festival, she was laid to rest. Her funeral service was held at La Paz Funeral Home in north Houston where some mourners were asked to wait outside after the chapel reached capacity.
Hundreds showed up for the final goodbye for Brianna Rodriguez who was crushed in the crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival.
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With the family seated inside, close friends and dance teammates were ushered into Saturday morning’s 9 a.m. service.
"She never stopped smiling." It’s a phrase often used to describe Rodriguez during a week of remembrance that turned out thousands. A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday at her school, and La Paz was overflowing with mourners Friday during her wake.
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A playoff football game was already scheduled for Saturday between Heights High School where Rodriguez attended and Memorial High where 14-year-old John Hilgert went to school. Hilgert was also killed at the concert. The community was asked to honor them by wearing school colors with pops of pink and green for both victims.
A family friend of decades knew Brianna since she was a baby and says she stopped by his office with her grandmother the day she died.
"We spent about 15 minutes discussing the concert, she was very excited about it and her future," says Jim Clark. "She had already planned to become a business major once she got to college."
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It was a promising future cut short. Rodriguez was memorialized with loved ones wearing her favorite colors, pink and white.
"Inside there are young people telling those stories. I have gotten to know her through those stories," said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee after attending the funeral service. Her district includes Heights High where Rodriguez was also a star on the Red Coats Dance Team.
Lee says the community is rallying around her parents who deserve answers as quickly as possible.
"We all keep telling them what a beautiful job they did with a beautiful soul that has touched our souls," says the congresswoman. "They are humble people. They shun this. They want their daughter back."
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An investigation into the incident could take several more weeks, leaving many who came to support little left to say.
"You hug them and tell them you’re sorry, you’re here for them, and you hurt for them as well," adds Clark.