Mother on elementary school graduation tribute to late daughter: 'De Zavala sure is pure family, and my baby was so loved by this school'

A young girl who was fatally shot in the parking lot of a southeast Houston bank while on the way with her family to Valentine’s Day dinner more than a year ago was remembered at the fifth-grade commencement exercises at her Houston Independent School District (HISD) elementary school. 

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that De Zavala Elementary School — where 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez attended fourth grade at the time of her death — held a graduation ceremony for her classmates who’ll transition to middle school in the 2023-2024 academic year. 

According to the station, an empty chair was on display in memory of Arlene, to which her mother, Gwen Alvarez, said was a beautiful gesture.

"It was hard not to cry and hear my babies' friends cheer when we walked on stage,” she said on Facebook, per KHOU. 

Gwen and Armando Alvarez received an honorary certificate from the last teacher the girl had at De Zavala. 

“DeZavala sure is pure family, and my baby was so loved by this school," Alvarez said in the report. “I will never forget this.”

Gunshots from a purported ATM robbery struck Arlene, who was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries the following day. 

Houston Daily reported that the Harris County District Attorney’s (DA) Office determined that Tony Earls, who fired the shots, was the apparent victim of the robbery that took place just as the Alvarezes arrived, and a grand jury declined to indict him on aggravated assault. 

The unenviable emotions caused by the girl’s untimely passing were exacerbated by a break-in at the Alvarez residence last summer while the family vacationed at Disney World in Florida and the theft of their truck in early October.

KHOU reported that amid the Alvarezes’ ongoing heartache, the family welcomed a baby girl into the world last month. 

Her name? Arlette Lynette Alvarez.