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PASCO -- When Alfredo Garcia wasn't toiling in the fields, he spent hours building his American dream.
The husband and father who'd emigrated from Mexico was proud to give his growing family a four-bedroom home in an east Pasco neighborhood with help from Habitat for Humanity.
Then in December 2008, he and his wife were gunned down in their living room. He died, while Maria Ramirez de Garcia was left paralyzed from the waist down and with limited vision in her right eye. They'd been homeowners less than a year.
While some might have deserted the scene of that tragic night, the family has instead embraced the Manzanita Lane home where Garcia built their future.
"There are no difficult memories. We don't see it as a place where something happened," said eldest daughter Jesica Garcia Ramirez. "We see it as a place that was built by our dad. It's just a part of us."
It also helps that 2-year-old Kimberly brightens the home with joy and laughter. The toddler quickly brings smiles to the faces of her three older sisters: Jesica, 20, Erika, 16, and Maricela, 15.
Since their father's death 14 months ago, the oldest sisters have taken on greater roles at home.
Jesica, who was a freshman at Washington State University in Pullman, had to scale back her dreams. She moved home to care for her wheelchair-bound mother, help raise her sisters, pay the bills, shop for groceries and schedule medical appointments.
All while continuing to take classes at WSU Tri-Cities and online.
"Pretty much I have to be with my family and take care of the things that my mom and dad had to take care of," Jesica said. "At times it becomes stressful with school work and family work, and sometimes I'm working 18 hours a day."
Though Jesica bears most of the responsibility, Erika and Maricela -- both students at Chiawana High School -- share in the chores, particularly baby-sitting Kimberly on weekends.
And though on wheels, Maria hasn't lost her passion for tidying up her daughters' bedrooms and cleaning house. Relatives and neighbors help where they can, including caring for the family's yard.
As the Garcias remake their lives, they try not to focus much energy on the men accused in the shootings, Ramon Garcia-Morales and Jose Garcia-Morales. They are apprehensive about testifying against the brothers, but also hope for a just resolution for Garcia and his wife of 21 years.
Building a new home
The Garcias moved to Pasco about eight years ago. As the parents worked in the fields, their daughters assimilated into the American school system.
Home was a cramped two-bedroom apartment before Garcia became involved with Habitat for Humanity. He volunteered to work on the neighborhood's first house even before he'd been approved for a Habitat home.
Erika and Jesica recalled how the family enjoyed meeting the volunteers who helped build their home and their new neighbors. The Garcias put in 900 hours of "sweat equity," well over the 500 hours averaged by other families.
They had much to celebrate in early 2008: They moved into their home in March and Jesica graduated from Pasco High in June, the first in her family with a high school diploma.
Maria completed her GED that summer, and she and her husband were taking night classes at Columbia Basin College to learn English.
Jesica, who finished sixth in her Pasco class with a 3.93 grade-point average, entered WSU in August with help from scholarships and financial aid. Her experience arriving in the United States six years earlier speaking only Spanish was the catalyst for her decision to study education to one day teach English as a second language.
Then came Dec. 10, 2008.
Court documents say Garcia, 42, "had been responsible for delegating work opportunities to workers for an (onion) producer," and the Garcia-Morales brothers believed he'd deprived them of a job. They blamed him for financial problems Ramon Garcia-Morales had experienced.
Documents say Ramon Garcia-Morales told his siblings and wife he planned to confront Garcia "to collect money from him that he had missed out on. ... He felt entitled to the money and stated that if Alfredo refused to give him money, he would kill him."
Ramon and Jose were both allegedly carrying guns when they went to the Garcia home. At some point, Ramon pulled out his 9mm and fired until it was empty, then grabbed Jose's .45-caliber pistol and continued shooting, documents said.
Three daughters were home. They pleaded for their lives and were saved when the suspects fled, fearing police were coming.
Court documents say the brothers threw the guns into a field along Highway 12 near Walla Walla. They were arrested the next day in Idaho.
Jose, 26, of Pasco, and Ramon, 29, of Kennewick, are both charged in Franklin County Superior Court with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Their cases have been on hold over defense concerns that the brothers are not mentally competent to stand trial.
'In the in-between'
Meanwhile, the Garcias have been trying to cope with the help of each other and victim's advocates from the prosecutor's office and Crime Victim Service Center in Kennewick.
"It's like, yeah, we want to get it past us," Erika said of the court process.
"We're in the in-between," added Jesica. "We want to get it over with but we're also nervous about what's coming up. There is a little anxiety about what to expect."
Maria, then 38, was shot once each in her left shoulder, right cheekbone, left leg and back. One bullet went through her spine and left lung. A broken rib punctured her right lung.
She spent three months in Seattle's Harborview Medical Center recovering from her injuries and getting rehabilitation.
The hospital put Jesica up in an apartment so she could be with her mother the whole time. Erika went to Seattle for a month to be at her mother's side, while Maricela and Kimberly stayed with relatives in Pasco.
Once back in Pasco, Maria had in-home care to relearn basic tasks.
"Obviously her whole life has changed. She's very limited" in what she can do, Jesica said of her mother. "Not having that mobility and not being able to take care of her kids, that restriction has changed her."
Maria loves to clean, so she uses a long tool the girls call a "reacher" to pick up things. She also has a small vacuum and a light mop to help her tidy up the house.
The house doesn't have stairs, but the tub in Maria's bathroom had to be replaced with a walk-in shower and she sleeps in a hospital bed.
"It took some time getting used to the wheelchair," Jesica said. "But now you can see her all around the house."
Jesica transferred to the WSU Tri-Cities campus to be at home, but has occasionally yearned for the college life in Pullman she left behind.
"At times it just seemed unfair that everyone, my friends, were still up there doing things that I should be doing and I was at home taking care of the extra responsibilities," she said.
But her family was Jesica's top priority.
She's worked hard to stay in school while managing the household, but worries she won't be able to afford classes next fall after her aid runs out.
Erika, a sophomore, and Maricela, a freshman, both struggle sometimes to concentrate in school while always thinking about the family.
Both teens attend a youth group and enjoy reading, watching movies and spending time on the computer. In warmer weather they often take an evening walk with their mother, but otherwise must rely on Jesica as the family's sole driver.
When Maria needs to go somewhere, it takes Jesica at least a half-hour to get her mother into the car. She said there's a lot of stress on her mother's body and her own as she lifts Maria into the front passenger seat of the small sedan.
The Garcias have an older van but it cannot be modified for a wheelchair ramp. They've opened an account at U.S. Bank to raise money for a handicap-accessible van. They have about $6,000 but have been told it will cost $15,000 to $20,000.
A fun-loving father
The sisters remember their father as a fun-loving, charismatic, joyful and funny man.
"He will always be there when you need him," Erika said.
"He was strong," added Maricela.
They miss most his zest for cooking. Garcia loved to cook for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and family gatherings. But even when it was just for the family, he often baked or grilled.
He never owned cookbooks and didn't write down his recipes, so now the family must try to re-create his meals.
"We never took the time," Jesica said of learning to cook with her father. "It's one of those things you don't expect it, so you don't take the time to learn the things."
Maricela and Jesica do most of the cooking now, but on weekends everyone prepares a meal, said Erika.
While the family adapts, they keep Garcia's memory alive.
Kimberly -- or Kimby as her dad called her -- makes sure pictures of her dad are prominent in the house. She also has a picture cube of snapshots with her father and definitely recognizes him, though she likely has no memory of that night 14 months ago.
The toddler talks nonstop and keeps everyone entertained as she reads and plays with dolls.
"She's really loved," said Maricela.
Erika added, "She's the reason the house is happy."
-- Kristin M. Kraemer: 509-582-1531; kkraemer@tricityherald.com
