Friday marks the 53rd anniversary of the murder of a 12-year-old Mexican American boy by a Dallas police officer.
Santos Rodriguez was killed in 1973 when he and his brother David were put in a police car and questioned about stealing money from a vending machine. Officer Darrell Cain used a Russian roulette tactic to force a confession and shot Santos. Cain was convicted of murder and served two-and-a-half years of a five-year sentence.
Advocates and community members don’t want Santos’ story forgotten.
Dance and theater directors Favian Herrera and Madi Frampton Herrera, of Herrera Dance Project, have been performing their theatrical piece about Santos Rodriguez since 2024.
After Santos’ mom, Bessie Rodriguez, died in 2023, they felt people wouldn’t feel “that sense of urgency to continue remembering Santos because she was no longer here.”
The group’s hope is that the story does not disappear, and that new generations continue to share what happened.
"I believe if we stop telling the story, that it could fall off of the wayside for some people,” Frampton Herrera said.
She said in the last three years they’ve shared Santos’ story, it’s mainly been to an older audience.
“The support is outstanding,” Frampton Herrera said. “However, I really feel like the community that we haven't reached is the youth and the younger adults. ...Those are the people that we really need to come to these things, or else the story is just going to continue to sizzle out.”
Both she and Herrera said new people, especially young people, are just learning about the story.
“When you look and reflect on Santos, Santos is going to be eternally 12 years old,” Herrera said.
“And with the new generation being more progressive in how they act and being more willing to vocalize and more willing to utilize their platforms to educate each other and educate themselves, I think it just gives new life to who Santos was.”
They have teamed up with Human Rights Dallas to commemorate Santos’ memory Friday morning with a panel discussion called “Remember Santos” at La Cantera Conservatory in Oak Cliff -- and all weekend people are invited to place a rose or flower on Santos’ grave at Oakland Cemetery.
The “Una Rosa Para Santos" event is coordinated by the Friends of Oakland Cemetery.
"Normally we don't encourage people to bring flowers during the mowing season,” said Jeff Martin Martinez, a volunteer with the group. “But we never remove flowers or wreaths or anything from Santos’ grave. That's kind of an unwritten thing among us. We just don't. He's a very special.”
Santos, the boy from Little Mexico
Mexican American historian Albert Valtierra remembers the protests by Dallas City Hall after Santos’ murder. Valtierra was working downtown at the time.
“When you break plate glass windows and you overturn motorcycles and you burn police cars, that's basically a riot,” Vatierra said. “But I will say that that protest march brought our community together, like never before and never since.”
While Valtierra said he didn’t know Santos and his brother David personally, many in his family and friends circle did – especially those who lived in the Little Mexico neighborhood that Santos lived in, now called Uptown.
“I think his story, the story of himself gets lost in the tributes to him,” Valtierra said
He said Santos’ scoutmaster Rudy Gomez said Santos “had natural leadership abilities at 12 years old” and was taller than the rest of the boys in the troop.
Like Valtierra, Favian Herrera said little has been shared about who Santos was.
Herrera learned more details about Santos by talking to people who knew him, and said people described Santos as someone who loved his family.
"[He] loved to play football and loved to eat junk food and loved to listen to classical music,” Herrera said. “And loved talking to girls on a pay phone while his brother stood outside. These are crucial components of who somebody was.”
While some community members believe Santos’ memory should rest in peace, Valtierra, who is a panelist in a tribute Friday, has a different perspective.
“I think it's important that our community continue to keep the story of Santos alive,” he said, “with the hope that it doesn't happen again.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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