CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On the first day of 2024, residents in the community remembered the life of Amethyst Silva, the 11-year-old who was killed the previous year when two men decided to shoot their guns to ring in the new year.
Amethyst's parents, Robert Silva and Melinda Cruz, said that she loved getting her pink drink from Starbucks, watching the Netflix series "Stranger Things," and especially enjoyed taking trips with her dad for some seafood at Joe's Crab Shack.
A year after her death, Amethyst's family and their supporters remembered all the best memories of who her parents said was a bright and sweet 11-year-old girl.
"I would trade everything just to get her back," Silva said.
Cruz said that there isn't a day that goes by without thinking about their daughter. It's during drives alone that Amethyst's father thinks of her the most.
"Nothing in the world can distract me when I'm thinking about her, you know? I just look to the side and I know she's smiling at me. I miss hearing that fourth door slam. I miss hearing everything about my daughter," Silva said.
Cruz said that it's the small things that remind her of Amethyst.
"I have snow globe and I have a little mushroom light that that I turn on in my room. I have like a little shrine where I have her picture. Every morning, I tell her good morning and I turn them on. Every night before I go to bed, I tell her good night and turn them off," Cruz said.
At the vigil, Amethyst's parents decided to give back stuffed animals they had received at her memorial; attached to each one was a wooden heart and a note thanking people for their support.
"We want people to have a little memorial, or a memory of her also," Cruz said.
Sharing those stuffed animals with those who have shown their support is what her parents say Amethyst would have wanted.
"It makes my heart full to know that there's so much love and support for her, even though most of these people don't even know she is, you know? It just makes me feel good to know that there is so many people out there that support her," Cruz said.
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