TCU alumna Jennifer Anne Prentice Alvarez was one of three people killed by open gunfire in Guatemala City, Guatemala Friday, according to Siglo Veintiuno, a Guatemalan news site.
Prentice, 26, was a 2007 graduate, Magna Cum Laude in International Economics and Sociology and a Guatemala native.
According to ElPeriodico, a Guatemalan news source, Prentice returned to Guatemala after graduating from TCU and studying for her doctorate at the London School of Economics and Political Science on a merit-based scholarship from Fundación Guatefuturo, a foundation that awards scholarships to Guatemalan students.
Director of International Student Services John Singleton wrote in an e-mail that Prentice had been a great student and had given the university a unique perspective on being Latin American within the context of both cultures.
“She was part of a broader community of Guatemalan families that have sent their children to TCU, and we are both saddened for the Prentice family’s loss and grateful for all they have given to us,” he wrote.
According to Siglo Veintiuno, Prentice was eating in a restaurant in Zona Viva, Guatemala City when armed men exited their vehicles and opened fire on the restaurant. Prentice died the next morning. In addition to the three deaths, nine people were injured.
The Zona Viva is one of several affluent districts in Guatemala City, professor Michael Dodson, university expert on Central American politics, said. He said gang activity is uncommon in those districts and that it was unlikely any gang was based out of that area.
According to Siglo Veintiuno, the National Civil Police chased and captured the two suspects; however, the investigation is still developing.
During her senior year at TCU, Prentice won three awards at the AddRan Festival of Undergraduate Scholarship and Creativity for her papers on Latin American economics and human trafficking.
The funeral was held Monday at Las Flores Cemetery in Guatemala City.
Editor’s Note: The age and funeral date for TCU alumna Jennifer Anne Prentice Alvarez, who was killed in a shooting over the weekend in Guatemala City, Guatemala, was incorrectly reported in Tuesday’s edition. The funeral was held Sunday, Oct. 17, instead of Monday. The Guatemalan news source elPeriodico incorrectly reported that Prentice was 28 years old. She was actually 26.
