To Jonathan Alderete’s, 35, parents, their son was the person who brought everyone together.
Both describe Alderete as a family man who wanted his loved ones around the same table and someone who tried to keep the peace.
Now those memories are what Robert and Lisa Quinn are holding onto after their son was shot and killed while playing basketball at Hemisfair Park in August.
“A life was lost over a basketball,” Alderete’s father, Robert Quinn, said. “For it to be over a basketball is just, for a lack of better words, pathetic.”
San Antonio police said Alderete was playing basketball with a group at Hemisfair Park near the Tower of America, when another group approached. The groups became involved in a dispute after the second group took a basketball that belonged to Alderete.
Police arrested 23-year-old Isean Hardeman days later and charged him with murder in connection with Alderete’s death. A judge set Hardeman’s bond at $250,000.
For the victim’s mother, the reality of losing her son still feels impossible to comprehend.
“Those thoughts come to me and I’m just like he’s gone. I miss him so much,” Lisa Quinn said.
Since losing him, Lisa Quinn said there are frequent moments when the permanence of his death hits her all over again.
Alderete was more than a son. He was a father of eight, a friend to many and his family said he was deeply devoted to the people he loved.
“It didn’t matter if his friends were upset with each other, he would always try to get them to make up and come together,” Robert said.
Both said they remember the jokes he made and a constant request for his favorite beverage when he would visit their home — Big Red.
Robert said his son was about to start a new job before the shooting took him away.
“He was genuine. I know he would have given them the basketball. I know he would have,” Robert Quinn said. “He was not confrontational at all.”
One of Alderete’s sons was also at the basketball court when the shooting happened, according to his family. He was not hurt during the incident, but Lisa and Robert said him witnessing his father’s death is a memory they fear will stay with him for the rest of his life.
“I know he’s taking it really hard because he was there,” Robert Quinn said. “I saw a boy turn into a man in a matter of moments.”
Earlier this week, SAPD released surveillance video of a person of interest connected to the incident. In the 40-second video, the person is seen an hour before the shooting entering and leaving the Denny’s on East Commerce Street.
Police said the man is around 20 to 24 years old and about 5 feet 10 inches tall. In the video, he is wearing red shorts and a black hooded sweatshirt.
SAPD said the person of interest came forward Friday afternoon. It’s unclear if he will face any charges as the investigation continues.
Through all of the family’s grief, Alderete’s parents said they are trying to hold onto their faith and onto the memories of the son they lost.
Lisa Quinn said she is choosing forgiveness over anger and shares a powerful message to the suspects that took her son’s life.
“To the people that did this to him. I forgive them. I forgive them, but will I forgive what they did to me. No,” she said.
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