SAN ANTONIO – Hugs all around as a local business owner meets the Espitia family for the first time, offering help they never expected.

Pregnant Jeanette Espitia died while crossing SE Military near Old Corpus Christi Road. Now, her brother Jesse Espitia is suddenly caring for three children, but also lost multiple family members over the past three years to one medical condition after another.

“San Antonio’s here for you, ok, they’re all trying to help,” Jesse said as he hugged one of the children.

“I know I struggled a lot when I had to bury my mom, my dad, and my brother’s funeral expenses together, you know, we barely made ends meet with that,” Jesse Espitia said.

Rudy Lopez, owner of Pica Pica Event Center and Mustang Sally’s, says he was moved after hearing about Jeanette’s death and decided to pay for her funeral.

“And we’re gonna make sure that she lies beautifully like she was, how you remember her,” Rudy Lopez said.

“Thank you,” Jesse Espitia said.

“I want you to be at peace in your mind, tranquility, to know this is gonna be taken care of,” Rudy Lopez said.

Jesse had moved in with his sister Jeanette to help with the three young children and to make things easier for both of them. But even with combined resources, they fell behind on rent and faced eviction until Lopez stepped up and covered all of the unpaid rent.

“We’re gonna make sure that nobody is gonna kick you out, nobody is gonna kick the kids out, we’re gonna make sure that you have a house for today, tomorrow, and for the next month,” Rudy Lopez said.

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Jesse says he has no other family members to help, no childcare support, and no help with the costs of raising three kids. Lopez is also working to find other business owners to help buy Jesse a car and support him in any way they can.

Funeral services for Jeanette Espitia are still being planned. The funeral will be open to the public at the Pica Pica Event Center. We’ll keep you updated. Meanwhile, if you’d like to help Jesse, you can donate at this link.