- Jessica Gonzales of Freer shares her story on the loss of her baby brother to suicide.
- Richard Gonzales took his life in 2022 at his parents home. No suicide note was left behind, but the family has a theory about what led to his death.
- City of Benavides and the Ambassadors of the Heart Corporation will host a suicide awareness event at the City Park in Benavides on Tuesday, Sept. 10 starting at 5:30 p.m.
September is a time to remember our loved one lost to suicide.
Two years ago, a Freer woman’s world was turned upside down with the loss of her baby brother to suicide. Jessica Gonzales said her brother’s pain is over, but her family will never be the same.
“I would never want anybody to go through that pain. It’s horrible. It’s a horrible pain. It stays there. It doesn’t go away,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said her baby brother, Richard Gonzales, was 24-years-old when he took his own life at their parent’s house. He was the life of the party who enjoyed raising roosters and family time.
But, two years ago, her family lost him and they don’t know the exact reason. Jessica said he didn’t leave a note behind, but the family said they have a theory because of messages they saw on Richard’s phone after his passing.
“This is something we gotta live with everyday. This is a pain that doesn’t go away. I had 24 years with my brother. Everyday - 24 years to nothing to gone. I didn’t even get to say good-bye,” Jessica said.
She said suicide has become all too common in the communities in Duval County - something she didn’t realize until Richard was gone.
According to Texas Health and Human Services, since 2000 the Coastal Plains Community Center that encompasses Duval County experienced the largest increase in suicide death with an increase of 127.3 percent.
Jessica said individuals like her brother are in some kind of pain.
“I completely understand that you don’t want to have that pain and you don’t want to feel that pain and that hurt. When you do that - yes, you get rid of it, but you transfer it to your family,” Jessica said. “(If) you only knew what it would do to your family you would think twice.”
Jessica said there are little to no resources to help family’s like hers with their grief in the county.
That’s why she’s grateful to the City of Benavides and the Ambassadors of the Heart Corporation, who are hosting a community event on World Suicide Prevention Day.
“Within this small community, we lost three individuals in the span of 18 months. When you come from a rural community everyone knows each other and everyone gets impacted one way or another,” Ambassadors of the Heart Corporation CEO Melissa Hernandez said.
Hernandez said something needed to be done in the county, to remember the legacy suicide victims leave behind, to focus on their lives not on how they died.
“While it’s a very difficult topic to discuss it’s very needed in this small community,” Hernandez said.
September serves as a powerful reminder to lookout for others. World Suicide Prevention Day is on Sept. 10th.
The Benavides community will hold a public event that day at the City Park starting at 5:30 p.m. to spread suicide awareness and give the community an outlet for resources as well as a memorial.
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