Services today at NHS for 16-year-old Sofia Palma

A memorial Mass is scheduled today at 11 a.m. in the Nogales High School gymnasium for Sofia Palma, 16, “the heart” of the Nogales High School dance squad.

A wake for her was Thursday, from 5-10 p.m.

Palma, who also was a devoted drama student and a junior at NHS, died in Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital at about 8 p.m. Monday from head injuries sustained in what police say was an accidental shooting.

Raul Garcia, 16, is in custody in Santa Cruz County Juvenile Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, charged with second-degree murder. He will be tried as an adult, said Lt. Octavio Gradillas of the Nogales Police Department.

In an interview on Tuesday, dance (pom) coach Rosa Aboud recalled Palma’s “positive outlook and good sense of humor. She was the heart of the team, the one the others would go to talk to when they were struggling or having problems.”

Aboud had been chided by her squad because she had not named the co-captains after tryouts as had been the norm.

“I wanted to see them in action first �“ see what they’re made of �“ before deciding,” she said.

During interviews for the captain’s position last week, Aboud met with Palma. “She described herself as, ‘motivated, inspired, I always show respect toward others.’ And �“ this was so cute �“ she said, ‘I critique the others with a positive outlook.’”

“Because I had analyzed her and seen her in action, I told her, ‘You know what? You are everything you are telling me,’” Aboud said. “That’s why she was the heart of the team.”

Palma was to play a key role in Aboud’s plan to shore up a dance squad beleaguered in the past years by a constant churning of coaches, lack of a formal practice area, and other signs of being slighted by school administrators.

“Our plans were made,” Aboud said. “It is really hard on the rest of the team. This is a team that never complains, they work hard and I have never seen this type of commitment. We never expected this.”

Teen finds gun

Investigators said Palma was at a friend’s house at 1066 N. Calle Lomitas in the Nogales West subdivision on Monday night when one of the other teens found a Glock 9mm semiautomatic gun inside a bedroom.

Gradillas said someone took the gun from the drawer, proceeded to remove the magazine, but a round remained in the gun’s chamber.

Garcia first put the gun inside his mouth believing it was unloaded. He then pointed it toward Palma, pulled the trigger and the shot went off.

Gradillas said that the shooting occurred at about 7:30 p.m. at the home.

Most of the teenagers present cleared the house. But Garcia remained, called 911 and attempted to perform CPR before police and paramedics arrived.

“Several other juveniles were present during the incident and are being questioned by authorities,” said Gradillas, adding that the gun was recovered at the scene.

The officers found Palma in the house with a gunshot wound to the head. She died a short time later at the hospital.

According to records in the Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office, the owner of the home where the shooting occurred is listed as Josefina E. Garcia. But Gradillas said it belongs to Javier Lopez of Nogales, Sonora, whose two sons, Javier, 18, and Jaime, 16, live in the home. The 18-year-old apparently allowed the group of teens into the house, but then left. His younger brother was on the way to the home when the shooting occurred. There were no adults at the scene, Gradiallas said.

Services were scheduled to be held Thursday from 5-10 p.m. at Martinez Funeral Chapels, 891 W. Mariposa Road, in Nogales.