ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — People are feeling the effects of a violent August in Albuquerque, including some local moms who are remembering one young victim.

“He was a member of our community, and he was the friend of our children. And it’s only right as parents for us to step in as a community and give back,” said Andrea Aguirre, mother to Alana Gamboa. “It actually broke my heart.”

Aguirre knows the pain that comes with the death of a child. Last summer, police arrested three teens for killing her daughter, Gamboa.

Now, Aguirre is reliving that pain after the death of 13-year-old Michael Tubb.

“I didn’t kind of believe it at first. This baby, they just started middle school three weeks ago,” Aguirre said.

At the same school where her daughter graduated from and where her son started last month.

“My son came home every single day, acknowledging the little boy, acknowledging the hurt friends at school, acknowledging the pain that these children were going through,” Aguirre said.

Albuquerque police identified Tubb as the victim in an Aug. 19 downtown homicide, one day after he died. Reps say Tubb was the passenger in the car when someone shot him multiple times.

The uninjured teen driver reportedly drove away and crashed around Gold and Fifth. Bullet fragments hit the third passenger in the car. That person had minor injuries.

“It’s not just like an accident. He didn’t get sick or catch cancer. This child was murdered in front of his other peers. It’s heartbreaking,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre said it then took days for Cleveland Middle School to acknowledge the death. The principal sent an email four days later, saying a student died unexpectedly and encouraging parents to talk to their children about death.

“These children need one-on-one counseling. They need trauma counseling and for the school not to acknowledge it all week long. So they went four days feeling this grief,” Aguirre said. “I even got an email from the teacher saying that my child was acting up and acting different that week. And I had to acknowledge that my child is grieving. Not only is he grieving at home but he’s grieving at school now.”

Now, she’s stepping up to honor Tubb. A vigil will take place this Friday at 7 p.m. at Stardust Skies Park.

“He was a child and he was a baby. And as a mom myself, I only feel respectful enough to step in and help out and do what the community did for me and my child when I lost her,” Aguirre said.

KOB 4 reached out to the Albuquerque Police Department for an update on the case. However, reps said they couldn’t comment on this case.

An APS spokesperson sent the following statement to KOB 4:

“Michael Tubb’s death is a tragedy, and his family is in our thoughts. As soon as we were informed of his death, we sent specially trained counselors and recovery team members to the school to help students and staff. Cleveland Middle School’s principal sent a letter to the school community about the death shortly after Michael’s family gave their permission. We take care to place a priority on a family’s wishes following a tragedy.”