A Mother’s Voice, A Family’s Love, and a Community’s Loss
By Linda Alvarado-Arce
On March 29, 2025, Joaquin Romero Simmons, an 18-year-old Senior and soon-to-be graduate of Toledo Public Schools’ Woodward High School, was selling a pair of shoes on Facebook Marketplace when three young men interested in the shoes reached out to him to buy them. They all agreed to meet up to see the shoes in the parking lot of the University of Toledo. And, once there, the buyers in the car told the young Joaquin that they were interested in the shoes and asked him if he had any more items for sale. He said yes, but at his house, and they all agreed to go there and buy the rest of the merchandise.
They followed Joaquin in their vehicle, parked across the street from his house in North Toledo, and waited for him. This transaction occurred during the late afternoon, when both of Joaquin’s parents were in the home. According to mom, Joaquin entered the home, spoke to them, and asked for their assistance in getting all of his items together because he told his parents that the people wanting to buy the items were in the vehicle in front of the house waiting for him.
As everything was being compiled, the young Joaquin took a pair of Balenciaga’s shoes out to the three in their car, with his father watching and his mom inside the house gathering the rest of the items. Once near the car, he held the shoes in his hands waiting for them to send over the payment for all the merchandise via an online cash app. As he kept asking his parents if they had received the payment, the three in the car grabbed him by his hair and the shoes and accelerated down the street in their vehicle dragging the young Joaquin along until they turned the corner of the neighborhood block and released him. This all happened as Joaquin’s father was chasing the SUV from behind and screaming to let go of his son.
According to mom, she could hear something going on outside of the house, she looked outside and called 911 screaming that someone had just kidnapped her son. When mom and dad were finally able to catch up with their son, it was too late- he was not responding. Once at the hospital Mom was told that her son was in critical condition and “very sick,” sadly, he soon passed.
Mom is now using her voice to get her story out in one of the hardest interviews I have ever had to do. According to mom, Joaquin was “a good kid, a truly good kid, that a lot of these younger kids looked up to… he had so many friends because these kids came from all around to play basketball in my backyard… and anybody who ever met him, they got a hug every time… all his friends were his best friends. He was truly the most respectful kid I’ve ever known.” Mom, Cynthia Garza, is now torn, her heart is broken, and her family is in pain. According to Mom, “they just don’t know what they took.”
They took a life of a good kid, over a pair of shoes. And now a community, the Toledo/Lucas County community, has lost not just one child but a total of four over a pair of shoes. This is also the same month and week when the City of Toledo’s Police Department announced that they had also found 13-year-old Kei’Mani Latigue’s body in an abandoned house in East Toledo.
La voz de una madre, el amor de una familia y la pérdida de una comunidad
Por Linda Alvarado-Arce
Joaquín Romero Simmons, un estudiante de 18 años y en su último año de la preparatoria Woodward de las Escuelas Públicas de Toledo, estaba vendiendo un par de zapatos en Facebook Marketplace cuando tres jóvenes interesados en los zapatos lo contactaron para comprarlos. Y los reunieron para verlos en el estacionamiento de la Universidad de Toledo. Una vez allí, los compradores en el auto le dijeron al joven Joaquín que estaban interesados en los zapatos y preguntaron si tenía más artículos a la venta. Él dijo que sí, pero en su casa, y todos fueron allí a comprar el resto de la mercancía.
Siguieron a Joaquín en su vehículo, se estacionaron frente de su casa en North Toledo y lo esperaron. Esta transacción ocurrió al final de la tarde, cuando los padres de Joaquín estaban en la casa. Según su madre dice, que Joaquín entró en la casa, les habló y les pidió ayuda para reunir todas sus pertenencias para venderlos.
Mientras se preparaba todo, el joven Joaquín les llevó un par de zapatos Balenciaga a los tres en el coche, con su padre observando y su madre dentro de la casa recogiendo el resto de las cosas. Una vez cerca del coche, sostuvo los zapatos en sus manos esperando que le enviaran el pago de toda la mercancía a través de una aplicación de pago en línea. Mientras seguía preguntando a sus padres si habían recibido el pago, los tres en el coche lo agarraron del pelo y de los zapatos y aceleraron su vehículo, arrastrándolo hasta que doblaron la esquina de la cuadra y lo soltaron. Todo esto ocurrió mientras el padre de Joaquín perseguía la camioneta y gritaba que soltara a su hijo.
Según la mamá, oyó algo afuera de la casa, miró afuera y llamó al 911 gritando que alguien acababa de secuestrar a su hijo. Cuando mamá y papá finalmente lograron alcanzar a su hijo, ya era demasiado tarde: no respondía. Y en el hospital, le dijeron que su hijo estaba en estado crítico y “muy enfermo;” lamentablemente, falleció pronto.
Mamá ahora usa su voz para contar su historia en una de las entrevistas más difíciles que he tenido que hacer. Según mamá, Joaquín era “un buen chico, un chico verdaderamente bueno, al que muchos de estos niños pequeños admiraban… tenía muchísimos amigos porque estos chicos venían de todas partes a jugar baloncesto en mi patio trasero… y cualquiera que lo conociera recibía un abrazo cada vez… todos sus amigos eran sus mejores amigos. Era realmente el chico más respetuoso que he conocido.” Mamá, Cynthia Garza, ahora está destrozada, con el corazón roto, y su familia está sufriendo. Según mamá, “simplemente no saben lo que se llevaron.” Le quitaron la vida a un buen niño por un par de zapatos. Y ahora, una comunidad, Toledo/Lucas County, ha perdido no solo a un niño, sino a cuatro en total por un par de zapatos. Este mismo mes y semana, el Departamento de Policía de la Ciudad de Toledo anunció que encontraron el cuerpo de Kei’Mani Latigue, de 13 años, en una casa abandonada en el este de Toledo.