Funeral arrangements set for Bellaire HS student shot to death on campus

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The 19-year-old Bellaire High School senior who was shot to death, allegedly by a classmate, will be remembered by friends and family this weekend.

The funeral for Cesar Cortes is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. at West University Baptist Church on 6218 Auden.

Cortes was shot to death on campus Tuesday.

The accused shooter, a 16-year-old student at the school, has been charged with manslaughter.

Sources tell ABC13 the shooting was unintentional, and that the suspect was showing off the gun.

According to sources with knowledge of the case, three students went to a storage area of Bellaire High School Tuesday afternoon, because the alleged shooter wanted to show the two other teens his gun.

One teenager then walked away from the storage area. That’s when he heard a shot.

Sources say the 16-year-old suspect then carried Cortes out of the storage area before running away.

The suspect remains in custody.

Cortes was active in JROTC and had already enlisted in the Army.

Cortes’ brother Dylan was brought to tears as he addressed the hundreds in the crowd at a community vigil Wednesday Night at Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire.

READ MORE: Bellaire High School shooting suspect charged with manslaughter, victim identified

“I cannot begin to say how much I’m grateful to see all of you here. Not only was I overwhelmed to see all of you, it fills my heart to know my brother is looking from above right now, watching all of us, watching all of you pray for him and be here for him. I will miss him and he did not die in vain,” Dylan said through tears.

The crowd clutched candles and leaned on each other.

“Every student, even if I don’t know them, means everything to me,” said sophomore Emma Urban.

“I think this is a desperate situation, catastrophic and we should all join together as a community and pray. That’s why I’m here. To pray,” said Lorraine Lewis of Crosspoint Church, one of the churches that helped organize the vigil.
“Hopefully, we find strength and uplift with our community coming together,” Bellaire Mayor Andrew Friedberg said.

“It will be hard, but I think we’ll get through it,” student Rebecca Abebe said.

Classes resumed Thursday at Bellaire High School with special conditions and security measures that required students to enter the school through one single-entry point.

Students also had their bags checked by school administrators were not allowed to leave campus for lunch.

The video above is from a previous story.

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