TEXAS CITY, Texas — Johnathan Rodriguez was killed in a shooting three weeks ago, but his family is still trying to raise money to lay him to rest.
The 19-year-old's former principal in Dickinson is stepping up to help. He said Johnathan had been accepted at the College of the Mainland and wanted to study anesthesiology.
Principal Mac McConnell had a front-row seat to Johnathan's transformation.
"Superman ... worked his butt off," McConnell said.
McConnell met Johnathan three years ago through a district program at Galveston County Juvenile Justice Center.
"He made some poor choices but wanted to change his life and create a better path for himself," McConnell said.
Johnathan got into an accelerated program on McConnell’s alternative education campus to get back on track. He passed 30 courses in six months and graduated in May 2022.
"He very easily could have been another statistic. His life was headed in that direction, but to his credit and to his work ethic, he really turned his life around. I was so proud of him. We were all so proud of him," McConnell said.
The two stayed in contact.
"On Tuesday, March 29, I was, like, you know, I need to give him a call, and I didn’t. And I wish I would have," McConnell said.
On May 31, Texas City police found Johnathan shot to death inside a car on Texas Avenue. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened and who could be responsible.
"I feel like a piece of me is missing," Johnathan's mother, Kandy Treviño, said.
Treviño is raising money to honor her son's wishes for a traditional Native American mausoleum burial.
"All I want is to help lay my baby boy to rest, giving him what he wanted," she said.
After he found out that the family's GoFundMe was still far short of its goal, McConnell reached out to KHOU 11 News for help.
"She said, ‘I don’t know what to do. I can’t bury my baby,'" McConnell said.
Click here for more information and ways to help.