NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The community on Friday rallied around the memory of Josselin Dayana Corea Escalante, who tragically had her life taken away in Wednesday’s Antioch school shooting.
The gathering inside Plaza Mariachi began with a prayer and message from a pastor in a time of despair to bring comfort to a shattered community following the shooting.
Dayana, as her parents liked to call her, was honored. The pictures of the smiling beautiful 16-year-old in full display.
Sarah Shoop Neumann was in the crowd, the mother of a Convent school student. The Covenant School saw its own deadly shooting in 2023.
“Just surreal and really hard to believe that we can be here less than two years. Again, really same nightmare,” said Neumann.
The atmosphere of Friday’s event helping guide everyone through a difficult time.
“I think it’s good to see the community gathering again, the community coming together and just pulling inside us and carrying us along,” said Neumann.
Elected leaders like Mayor Freddie O’Connell also joined Friday’s journey to healing.
Melissa Alvarez-Zabriskie, the founder of the Tennessee Hispanic Action Network was one of the organizers of the event.
“We have two therapists here that speak Spanish. We have a psychiatrist as well. We also have information to be give out to people welcome into to resources that are nonprofit,” she said.
Neumann is grateful for the moment to help those impacted but said we need change to make our schools safer.
“We cannot continue to live like this. These are things that are preventable, things that we can lessen the risks of, and we’ve got to come together as a community,” she said.
Escalante’s funeral service is Sunday at 1 p.m. at Iglesia de Dios Casa De Restauracion, 3302 Nolensville Pike.
