The father of a Santa Rosa ISD student killed nearly a week ago said he’s struggling to come to terms with his loss.

“I couldn't save you son, I couldn't protect you,” Arturo Sauceda said in Spanish during a Thursday candlelight vigil in honor of the son he’s named after.

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Sauceda said memories are all that's left of his 18-year-old son.

“Every minute, every instant, I'm going to remember my son,” Sauceda said, adding that his son was a kind soul.

Classmates, teammates, and more remembered the Santa Rosa High School student at the school’s Warriors Stadium.

The 18-year-old student athlete would’ve started his senior year by taking the field as number 68 at the start of football season.

Sauceda tightly hugged his son's jersey number 68 during the vigil, mourning alongside the Santa Rosa community where nearly a hundred people lit candles in honor of his son.

Those who knew Sauceda say he was a kind young man.

"He saw no meanness in anybody,” Maribel Salinas said. “My son would call him the teddy bear."

The Santa Rosa High School Warriors also showed support for their teammate and friend 

"Every single day since we started playing football, he showed up for us, so it was only right we showed up for him,” Santa Rosa High School student and football player Bryan Rojas said.

Attendees also showed support for Sauceda’s mother, Lidia Zamorano Villalobos.

Villalobos was also shot in the weekend shooting that killed Sauceda. She remains hospitalized.