‘You couldn’t help but smile around her’: Friends remember Arlington teen killed by mother

Mattie Kay Prescott will be remembered as a bright light and an inspiration to all who knew her, her friends said.

Mattie’s life was cut short the evening of Nov. 10 when her mother, Jennifer Prescott, shot her before taking her own life at their home in Arlington, according to police.

Following the tragedy, friends of 15-year-old Mattie took to social media to share their memories. In the midst of their grief, they said they are choosing to remember the life Mattie lived and the love she exemplified.

According to her obituary published in The Waxahachie Sun, Mattie was born Feb. 25, 2007, in Dallas and was named for her great-great-grandmother Mattie Kay Kurz.

“To know Mattie is just to love her,” Tatum Krueger, Mattie’s small group leader at TCAL Church in Mansfield, told the Star-Telegram in a phone interview.

Krueger described the 15-year-old as “mature beyond her years” with a bright future ahead.

During the Wednesday night youth services, Krueger often sent Mattie to talk to the new kids and make them feel welcome. Krueger said Mattie could talk to anyone, and in all of her conversations “she just never failed to show Jesus.”

Krueger’s mother, Aydee Esquivel, remembered Mattie as a “tender, loving girl that stole my heart.”

“I remember the first time I met her,” Esquivel wrote in a Facebook post. “She told me, ‘I’m so happy you’re my leader because you’re Tatum’s mom. She’s amazing and if she’s amazing I know she has an even more amazing mom.’ Since that day … she became like my own. I loved her dearly and fiercely.”

Veronica Lizette Garcia, another one of Mattie’s small group leaders from TCAL Church, said on Facebook that Mattie was “the sweetest soul” and a leader in the student ministry.

“(She) just had a light in her that shined so brightly, you couldn’t help but smile when you were around her,” Garcia wrote.

Krueger said her friendship with Mattie extended beyond the time they spent at church. They went swimming, met over coffee and just hung out together. When they talked about the future, Mattie shared her dreams of playing college volleyball at the University of Texas or Dallas Baptist University.

According to Krueger, Mattie was passionate about volleyball. Her team, 360 Warriors Volleyball, had recently won a tournament and Krueger said Mattie would have played in another tournament soon.

After learning of her death, the team shared several photos on Facebook of Mattie in her #7 jersey.

“The 360 Warriors extend our most sincere prayers to all of the friends, team mates, parents, and family who have been impacted during this very heartbreaking time,” the post reads. “For those in need, we have counselors available to help you process these events & if you are struggling with mental illness please reach out to us. We’re here.”

Mattie’s school, Matthew Road Academy, posted on Facebook that the 15-year-old lived out the school’s theme of “Be The Light.”

“She will be greatly missed by the entire MRA family,” the post reads. “We are thankful to have had her as a student, and Thursday (her final day in class at MRA) was a day filled with laughter and friendship.”

Matthew Road Academy planned to host an event Friday night to celebrate Mattie’s life and give students a place to share photos and memories.

A memorial service for Mattie and her mother, Jennifer, will be held Monday at 6 p.m. at Stonegate Church in Midlothian, according to the obituary.

“I’ll never understand why her life was cut short, it’ll never make sense to me,” said Garcia, Mattie’s small group leader, on Facebook. “What I do know is that her light will live on in every single person she knew. I will forever remember sweet Mattie and the conversations we got to have, her big faith while she was just a little girl will forever inspire me.”

If you or a loved one are experiencing a crisis, call 988, the new, three-digit shortcut that will direct callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.