tried to get in the vehicle of her boyfriend<\/a>, Joseph Garcia, in an alley in the rear of West Locust Street. He sped away, and Rose suffered fatal injuries consistent with being struck by a motor vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit. Garcia faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter and has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Monday.<\/p>\nHer friends returned to school after winter break \u2014 reeling from the absence of the friend who would help anyone and loved to laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt just a wave of sadness, anger,\u201d said Allison, who met Rose at a quincea\u00f1era about six years ago and forged an \u201cinseparable\u201d bond. \u201cI couldn’t believe it. I refused to believe it. I kept looking at pictures, videos, just to reminisce all the memories we’ve spent together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior Janellyn Alonso Perez worked at Marshalls in Dickson City with Rose. They\u2019d sometimes chat while Rose worked in the fitting rooms and sipped on drinks from Starbucks during breaks together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do something for Rose and her family and her friends to remember her,\u201d Janellyn said.<\/p>\n
A rose would soon bloom.<\/p>\n
![\"Janellyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780534810_510_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Sarah Hofius Hall<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
WVIA News <\/p>\n
Janellyn Alonso Perez and Allison Juarez speak about their friend, Rose Hernandez. To the left, behind fountain, is teacher Ryan Hnat.<\/p>\n
‘For our friend Rose’<\/p>\n
Janellyn and Allison wanted a place to grieve. They talked to art teacher Ryan Hnat and planted an idea: a memorial in the school courtyard could give anyone a chance to grieve a life lost.<\/p>\n
Hnat designed the metal rose sculpture and welding students from the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County fabricated it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s super important to have a place to be able to deal with those emotions,\u201d the teacher said, standing near the flower that towers above him. \u201cIt’s a work of art. It’s just a big rose. When you really get into the sculpture, then you really understand the meaning of the importance.\u201d<\/p>\n
On one of the leaves of the rose is the phrase: \u201cDedicated to all students of WSHS whose time came too early.\u201d Rose\u2019s name is at the base of the stem.<\/p>\n
West\u2019s courtyard is surrounded by classrooms on each side.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust looking outside, like when someone sees the rose, you want them to remember, \u2018Oh, it’s for our friend Rose,\u2019\u201d Allison said.<\/p>\n
Symbol of life to remain<\/p>\n
![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780534811_814_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Sarah Hofius Hall<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
WVIA News <\/p>\n
West Scranton High School students attended the dedication in the school’s courtyard.<\/p>\n
The fountain trickled in the lush courtyard Wednesday afternoon. Rose\u2019s friends and classmates held bouquets of flowers \u2014 and each other.<\/p>\n
Her father, Irineo Hernandez, clutched red roses. Her mother, Rosalba Villa, hugged a teddy bear wearing a cap and gown.<\/p>\n
Hernandez said he always stressed the importance of education to Rose and his two sons. Rose could speak and understand both Spanish and English \u2014 a skill her father believed would take her far. She always volunteered to translate for anyone who needed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day I pushed her \u2026 I said you have to keep on, keep going to school, because the life is not easy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rose should have been preparing to walk across the stage next week. She should be picking up her cap and gown and making plans for life after graduation.<\/p>\n
\n 1 of 2
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a020260603_124940.jpg\n <\/p>\n
West Scranton High School Principal Renee Stevens presents the family of Rose Hernandez with her diploma.<\/p>\n
Sarah Hofius Hall \/ WVIA News <\/p>\n
\n 2 of 2
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a020260603_124223_1.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Family members of Rose Hernandez listen to her friends during the unveiling of a rose sculpture memorial at West Scranton High School.<\/p>\n
Sarah Hofius Hall \/ WVIA News <\/p>\n
Instead, under bright blue skies, Principal Renee Stevens presented Rose\u2019s diploma to her family. Her father held it tight to his chest.<\/p>\n
One by one, friends and family placed roses at the base of the memorial. Long after Rose\u2019s friends have graduated, a symbol of her life will remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s amazing. That’s beautiful,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cMy heart too is gonna be here. It\u2019s going to be here for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Family](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780534811_576_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Sarah Hofius Hall<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
WVIA News <\/p>\n
Family placed roses on the stem of the statue, which serves as a memorial to Rose Hernandez and other West Scranton High School students gone too soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Next week, Rose Hernandez would have worn Invader blue. She would have sung the school\u2019s alma mater. She…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-210051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Friends](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780534810_78_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Rose](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780534810_325_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n