Damian Garcia identifies as male and since male students wear black robes, wants to wear a black robe. But since Garcia’s birth certificate says female, school officials say Garcia should wear a white robe like all female students.

An online petition demanding Damian be allowed to wear black has already gained more than 23,000 signatures.

Damian’s supporters plan to bring that petition to the archbishop today. They hope those signatures, and today’s protest, will change minds.

Damian said he hopes other transgender students also see the support he’s received.

“Hopefully it does affect some sort of change whether it’s the decision or other people getting to be more accepted,” Garcia said.

Maribel Ramos, 36, was last seen on surveillance video dropping off her rent check about 8:30 p.m. May 2 in Orange, said Lt. Dave Hill, with Orange police. She was reported missing by her family the following day.

Kwang Chol “K.C.” Joy was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with Ramos’ murder, Hill said. Joy shared an apartment with Ramos. He spoke to the media on May 8 calling Ramos his “best friend” and the “only family I have.”

“I want her to come back, that’s all,” he said at the time.

Ramos’ body was found Thursday evening in a remote area of Modjeska Canyon in California after someone had reported a foul odor, police said.

She was set to graduate from Cal State Fullerton May 26 with a degree in criminal justice and had served eight years in the Army in South Korea and Iraq, according to the university’s student newspaper, the Daily Titan.

Ramos’ younger sister Lucy Gonzalez said her sister “accomplished all her goals.”

She was “a wonderful example of a Latina woman,” Gonzalez said.

Cal State Fullerton released this statement shortly after police announced that Ramos’ body had been found:

“Maribel was a beloved student and military veteran, who was actively engaged here on our campus and in the community. She was a wonderful role model for our students, faculty and staff. And we honor her for her past service to our country as an airborne paratrooper in the Army and her commitment to her education.”

In an email to NBC4′s Vikki Vargas, a man identifying himself as Ramos’ roommate said detectives had been speaking with him at least twice a day.

“Of course, my number one concern is safe return of Maribel. I miss her so much and I have been so depressed and stressed out and (sic) same time,” part of the email read.

Joy wrote that three detectives had been “asking redundant questions for a week” and confiscated his phone, forcing him to check and write his emails from a library.

He also suggested that Ramos and her new boyfriend met through an online dating site, and he made claims of the dangers of online dating.

“Anyway, keep on broadcasting. More people get informed about Maribel, better chance we will have,” he wrote.

A Craigslist ad associated with the same email address Joy used to contact NBC4 was posted on April 24. In that ad, Joy wrote that he is seeking a new apartment in the Orange or Huntington Beach area.

He says he recently moved to Orange County from Knoxville, Tenn., and was recently laid off but has enough “savings to keep me going for awhile (sic) and pay rent on time.”

“I am a social drinker, non-smoker, straight and I like to keep things clean,” the ad reads. “I am easy going and get along with most of people. If you have a dog, that would be great.”

Joy was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2011 in Tennesse, court records show. He paid bail but skipped his court appearance, leading to an arrest warrant.

In 1986, he was charged with assault and battery, and a year later was charged with aggravated assault, according to court records. Both charges were dismissed.

The 9th round of peace talks between Colombian government officials and FARC rebels began in Cuba this weekend. President Juan Manuel Santos says he hopes a deal will be reached within months but that they need more time. A leading opposition activist in Venezuela was freed over the weekend after he was jailed for allegedly initiating violence after the country’s presidential election. Retired general Antonio Rivero denies the charges. A senior doctor treating Peru’s Alberto Fujimori said the former president is in poor health with a condition that is eating away his stomach. Fujimori is serving a prison sentence for human rights abuses. And in Mexico, the red cross and water company Ciel are partnering to create a campaign that would bring 20 portable coolers to deserts across the U.S. and Mexican border. The project is aimed at providing water to undocumented immigrants crossing the border and to local residents affected by the drought.

The Sacramento County Coroner identified the 10-year-old victim as Elvira Campos.

“We believe the house was targeted, and the family inside the house was targeted, ” said Jason Ramos of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators said they believe at least two men stood outside the home and fired into it about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It kind of makes you feel like you don’t even want to walk down the street because you don’t know what is gonna happen,” said a neighbor.

Deputies said the girl’s parents are expected to survive.

“We need help from the public. We need anyone with information to come forward,” said Ramos.

Dr. Joseph Sirven is a first-generation Cuban-American. He is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and was past Director of Education for Mayo Clinic Arizona. He is editor-in-chief of epilepsy.com and has served U.S. and global governmental agencies including the Institute of Medicine, NASA, FAA, NIH and CDC.

The Warrior Games were held this past week in Colorado Springs.

“I couldn’t stop screaming or crying,” said 18-year-old Ana, the oldest sibling.

Ana, her parents and two brothers, Noe, 7, and Ezequiel, 12, huddled together.

But first, with seconds to spare, father Paul Zapata grabbed a mattress to cover them.

“Once I put the first mattress over them, I was like, this isn’t enough,” he said.

So he dragged in a second mattress, and jumped in the tub too.

“And then we started praying,” Ana said.

They sang a prayer in Spanish.

“Dios esta aqui. Tan cierto como el aire…”

The prayer translates to: God is here, as sure as the air.

“That’s the way we calm down,” said mother Ruth Zapata. “We felt like he was right there.”

And then, it happened.

“I heard glass breaking,” Ana said.

Paul Zapata said what happened next was incredible.

“Feeling the walls shake and the tub under you is feeling like it is going to lift up anytime,” Paul Zapata recalled.

“I started more crying, screaming,” Ana said.

“The mattresses felt like they were trying to leave us. But no, we kept holding,” Ruth Zapata said.

Somehow, they held on as the twister ripped their house apart.

“And then it’s over and we’re okay and we’re thankful that we’re alive because in that moment, I thought we were goners. I thought it was going to take us,” Ruth Zapata said.

Many of their neighbors were hurt — some killed. But the Zapatas made it out of that bathtub without a scratch.

“Thank God we’re here, we’re alive,” Paul Zapata said.

Now in a Red Cross shelter, with barely the clothes on their backs, they say they’re overwhelmed by the support.

“Strangers have called. I’d like to thank each and every one of you all,” Paul Zapata said. “Thank you.”

In an instant, one family’s lives were changed forever.

“We’re not going to forget this,” Ruth Zapata said. “We’re not going to forget what God did for us in that moment. And I even told my son, my 7-year-old and 12-year-old, don’t. Because God gave us another chance to live.”