Friends, students honor 'Miss Mayra,' elementary school teacher slain in North Hollywood

[ad_1] Households gathered at Wilshire Park Elementary Faculty Friday night to mourn the jarring lack of third-grade instructor Mayra Jimenez, who prosecutors allege was killed by her firefighter husband at their North Hollywood dwelling.

Many tears have been shed as youngsters, mother and father and buddies remembered “Miss Mayra” — the devoted 46-year-old educator whose violent demise has devastated the Koreatown college neighborhood.

Mayra’s husband, Andrew Jimenez, 45, was arrested Wednesday and charged with homicide Friday, in response to the L.A. County district legal professional’s workplace. If convicted as charged, he faces 26 years to life in jail.

The group on the vigil was so massive it overflowed into the road dealing with the varsity, the place a pile of flowers and prayer candles have been laid right down to create a memorial for the slain instructor.

<img class="image" alt="People gather around flowers and candles." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f64f212/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/320x213!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/98755ed/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/568x379!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/418214d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/768x512!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8dfe892/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/1024x683!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg 1024w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7e29876/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg 1200w" sizes="100vw" width="1200" height="800" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7e29876/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4309x2873+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2Fa1%2F2e3fd4824df28fa41bac654c6ca3%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-9-gmf.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Mates, colleague and college students lay flowers for slain instructor Mayra Jimenez at a memorial at Wilshire Park Elementary Faculty on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Occasions)

Sarah McNeill, an in depth good friend of Mayra’s, stated she was deeply liked by the Wilshire Park neighborhood and introduced heat into each room she entered.

“She was all the time smiling, and her generosity, advocacy, and love for her college students and colleagues confirmed up in every part she did,” McNeill stated. “She’s the instructor that stayed at recess to present college students further help, known as her instructing accomplice to e-book concepts for lesson plans over the weekend and went store to buy to seek out simply the appropriate provides to make her classroom thrilling and fascinating.”

Karen Chacon stated that Mayra reworked her household’s life by giving her youngster the particular consideration wanted to thrive within the classroom.

“Miss Mayra was not only a instructor,” Chacon stated. “She was somebody who really noticed youngsters for who they have been and believed in who they may turn into. When our youngster wanted further care and help, Miss Mayra didn’t step again, she stepped ahead.”

Colleagues remembered Mayra as a devoted educator and energetic member of the lecturers union who spoke as much as help the wants of her college students and fellow employees members.

<img class="image" alt="People hold candles next to a pile of flowers." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a49ffd2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/320x457!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0edf8dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/568x810!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fac30c5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/768x1096!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6c45bcf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/1024x1461!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg 1024w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a6ca02b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/1200x1712!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg 1200w" sizes="100vw" width="1200" height="1712" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a6ca02b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2804x4000+0+0/resize/1200x1712!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fcd%2Fd8e853364b97968afc4a15ec8380%2F1539303-me-slain-teacher-vigil-7-gmf.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Bryant Ruiz retains his arm round his 9-year-old son Ian, who was a pupil of slain instructor Mayra Jimenez.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Occasions)

“Mayra was an activist, an advocate, a pacesetter, a good friend, and most of all a beloved instructor,” stated Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Academics Los Angeles. “Her love for her college students was paramount, and he or she labored arduous, stayed late, and all the time led by instance.”

Mayra Jimenez’s physique was discovered early Wednesday morning when Los Angeles Police Division officers carried out a wellness verify at her North Hollywood dwelling on the behest of her husband.

Inside, officers discovered her bludgeoned to demise and an ensuing investigation linked Andrew to the killing, officers stated. Authorities allege he used an ax to kill her.

An legal professional retained by Andrew’s household instructed ABC7 that moments earlier than the killing, Andrew learn a diary entry during which his spouse described participating in infidelity.

Andrew Jimenez is a longtime firefighter and paramedic who had been with the Glendale Fireplace Division since 2008. He has since been positioned on administrative depart, in response to the town.

“The home violence demise of Mayra Jimenez is a devastating reminder of the persistent scourge of intimate accomplice violence in our communities,” L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman stated in an announcement. “Nobody, together with these sworn to guard others, is above the legislation, and we are going to maintain the defendant accountable for this horrific crime and produce justice to Ms. Jimenez and her family members.”