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Galt High School Student Killed In Crash Along With Four Family Members In Mexico

GALT (CBS13) — The campus of Galt High School was especially quiet this Monday afternoon. The Warrior community is mourning the loss of one of their own with an infectious attitude, Yair Garcia.

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"He was fun to have in class. He was good because he interacted with others. He interacted with the teacher. He just had a really big heart," Cheryl Reece, Galt High School Agricultural Department Chairperson, said.

"I remember on the first just a little bit about Yair coming up just a ball of energy. Absolutely excited to be here. Excited to be around friends," Patrick MacDonald, Head Mechanics Teacher at Galt High School, said.

The excited Galt High junior was a member of the school's JV football team and part of the FFA program. Someone who knows Garcia's family and the Galt High School principal told CBS13 that Yair Garcia, his mother, father and two other family members died in car crash in Mexico on their way back home to Galt.

CBS13 is also told that Yair's uncle survived the crash and is hospitalized in critical condition.

"My initial feelings were just absolute jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching. Absolutely just like this isn't real. This can't happen," MacDonald said.

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But the unthinkable did happen and it rocked those who watched Yair Garcia on the gridiron and the practice field.

"We are a close-knit community and we always think of ourselves as a family and they were always there and participated in everything he did," Tim Cobleigh, Head Football Coach At Galt High School, said.

"[He] comes from a very supportive, loving family," Reece said.

The tragedy is not only hitting Galt High school but anyone who knew Yair Garcia and his family. Their lives taken too soon; miles away from home. And Galt is the place they'll always be remembered.

"It just makes you very sad that those opportunities have been cut shot for him and as well as his family. And it's just not fair," Reece said.

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