Tortilla Factory’s Alfredo Guerrero opens up about heartbreaking loss of daughter and granddaughter in fatal auto accident

Tortilla Factory bandleader Alfredo Antonio Guerrero shared the tragic story about the devastating auto accident that took the life of his 21-year-old daughter and 2-year-old granddaughter in an exclusive interview with Tejano Nation.

On July 3, 2020, his daughter, Mikayla, and granddaughter, Savannah, were involved in a fatal car accident. That tragic day affected Alfredo physically that he had to go to the emergency room because of left arm pain. After a couple of EKGs, it was determined that he has what is called Broken Heart Syndrome.

According to Hopkins Medicine: Broken heart syndrome, also known as stress Cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo Syndrome, occurs when a person experiences sudden acute stress that can rapidly weaken the heart muscle.

Broken heart syndrome can be life-threatening. In some cases, it can cause severe heart muscle weakness resulting in:

• Congestive heart failure

• Low blood pressure

• Shock

• Potentially life-threatening heart rhythm abnormalities

The good news is that this condition can improve very quickly if patients are under the care of a doctor familiar with the syndrome. Even people who are critically ill with this condition tend to recover.

“I am taking it a day at a time,” Alfredo tells Tejano Nation. “I went into a deep dark place and angry at God. Five days before Mikala died, Alexandra Heaven (his daughter) was born and I know it was God that was setting it up because he knew he was going to take Mikala and Savannah home.”

To help cope with the pain, Alfredo attended a spiritual retreat, seeing therapists and a psychiatrist. Refusing to give in to alcohol and addiction. Alfredo had to reconnect with God.

During these times when people are struggling with loss, especially since the pandemic, Alfredo hopes to be an inspiration. Due to the pandemic, people aren’t able to say their final farewell to loved ones. He has received many messages from people letting him know that he has inspired them to keep going.

Alfredo has strong support, a group of friends that hold him accountable plus his family. He urges anyone to seek counseling, to seek help so that they can overcome their grief. Alfredo has learned to embrace the pain and release it to Jesus.

“Mikala was just a daddy’s girl. She loved life,” he said. “What kills me Peaches is that she loved life. She wasn’t ready to go and that’s what breaks my heart to pieces. In the end, she was getting closer, she was starting to like the wrong kind of guys, the rebel guys, the bad guys. She knew that I would have her back. Put it this way if anything happened to Mikala I would be the first one she would contact.”

Alfredo recalls a memory of Savannah. “We were in my mom’s yard, we were babysitting Savannah. She was outside in the front with me, run over to me with a big yellow flower. I stopped the lawnmower and just started crying, how can this little 2-year-old know how to pick up a flower and come give it to me?”

Alfredo added, “We’re just passing thru Peaches. We’re just flesh, our spirit is not gonna die. So whatever is next, it’s going to be beautiful. Right now we’re just in flesh. We’re going to go onto something more beautiful than this. We just have to make the best of it while we are here and not take it for granted Peaches. Cause I’ll be the first one to tell you that life can be lost in a blink of an eye.”

Our prayers, healing vibes continue for Alfredo Guerrero and all the family.

Guerrero was groomed by his late father, Tony “Ham” Guerrero, to take over the legacy of the three-time Grammy-nominated Tortilla Factory. His father who passed away in 2011, was a pioneering musician who shaped the Chicano sound with Tortilla Factory and Little Joe y La Familia in the early ‘70s.

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