Protesters gathered outside the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office during the one-year anniversary of the death of Jorge Gonzalez Zuniga on Thursday morning.

Zuniga's family claims he died from injuries he suffered during his arrest on April 2020, joining advocates from La Union del Pueblo Entero to bring light to the tragedy they say nobody should forget.

"We promised my brother we would get him justice," Zuniga's sister Katia Gonzalez said. "He asked for it before he passed away."

Standing close to her mother during the protest, Gonzalez says her brother's infant son, who she cares for, misses his father. 

"I know for sure he misses his dad because we have pictures of my brother, and he grabs them, and he kisses them," Gonzalez said. "He says, 'Papa.'"

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office confirmed three deputies involved in Zuniga's case remain employed with the agency. 

"When the George Floyd case came up, he started crying," Gonzalez recalled. "We [saw] it on the news, and he said, 'that happened to me.'"

Advocates at the protest said justice means convicting the deputies who were allegedly involved and speaking up about Zuniga's life.

Last August, the Hidalgo County District Attorney's office sought manslaughter charges against the arresting deputies, but the same day a grand jury declined to indict them.

Zuniga's family has since filed a lawsuit against the county and four sheriff's office employees.