Girl Scouts Honor Young Victim Killed Trying to Call 911

Organization presents family of Amerie Jo Garza with Bronze Star for risking her life to save others
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2022 3:47 PM CDT
Girl Scouts Honor Texas Victim With Posthumous Bronze Star
Pallbearers carry the casket of Amerie Jo Garza after her funeral Tuesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, Texas.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Amerie Jo Garza was proud of the Girl Scout badges she'd earned. At her funeral on Tuesday, the organization demonstrated its pride in the 10-year-old girl who was shot to death in a Uvalde, Texas, classroom while trying to call for help. The Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas announced that it awarded Amerie its Bronze Cross, USA Today reports, one of its highest honors. "The Bronze Cross is awarded for saving or attempting to save life at the risk of the Girl Scout's own life," the organization said. "On May 24, Amerie did all she could to save the lives of her classmates and teachers."

Surviving classmates said Amerie was trying to call 911 with the cellphone she'd just been given for her 10th birthday when the gunman shot her. Girl Scouts presented the Bronze Cross to her family at her funeral Tuesday. The Scouts' chief executive wrote to Amerie's family that she “embodies what it means to be a girl of courage, confidence, and character who makes the world a better place." She participated in a bridging ceremony just weeks ago, in which the pledge recited by new Juniors includes a promise "to help people at all times." Her stepfather said last week that that was her. "She just died trying to save her classmates," Angel Garza said. "She just wanted to save everyone." (Read more about the Uvalde shooting.)

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