Longtime journalist takes an intimate look at El Paso youth's suicide in first book

Youth suicide is an epidemic in this country, author Eraldo "Dino" Chiecchi opined during a recent conversation, and it's one the longtime journalist and El Paso native hopes to illuminate in his first book.

"I am hoping people will realize that this is an epidemic that is just not discussed," Chiecchi said. "And it needs to be brought to light. We're losing too many young people to this epidemic, and it's just got to stop."

Chiecchi's book, "Josue: A Young Man's Life Lost to Suicide," takes an inside look at the life and tragic death of El Paso teen Josue Legarda, who jumped to his death from an Interstate 10 overpass on June 8, 2017, in far East El Paso.

"I'm hoping by telling this one story, people will realize that there's a problem and they'll try to find out how their loved ones are doing, they will examine symptoms, anything they can, and express their affection and love for their loved ones so this stops," Chiecchi said.

Getting the story

Chiecchi, who now teaches multimedia journalism at Texas State University in San Marcos, previously worked as a crime reporter and eventually managing editor for the El Paso Times, so his ears perked up on that morning in June 2017 when reports first broke that a body had been discovered on a frontage road in far East El Paso.

Chiecchi worked in journalism for 33 years, first with the El Paso Herald-Post and eventually at posts in Austin, San Antonio, Hong Kong, Tucson and with the Associated Press. He is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame, a founding member of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists and was longtime president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Chiecchi said those early reports did not mention any collision or other incident, but the interstate was shut down for the investigation.

"I knew exactly what it was," he said. "I covered cops for a long time and I knew what it was. What I didn't know were the details."

Chiecchi got to work, first running down a copy of the police report and, eventually, interviewing a wide array of Legarda's family and friends.

"I don't know how long it was from when the event occurred to when I started doing the interviews; it was about a year, I guess," he recalled. "But then I interviewed all these people who knew Josh for about a year ... so, all told, it took about three years."

"It didn't happen right away," he added. "I interviewed probably 20 to 25 people, some of them multiple times, and everybody was so candid with me, so honest about Josh and what he meant to them."

And while the book paints an intimate portrait a young man's life and the devastation wrought by its untimely end, any answers as to why Legarda took his own life are hard to come by.

"This was an extraordinary young man and it's a really unfortunate thing that this happened," Chiecchi said. "Depression, or whatever the reason is, is not always disclosed; it's not always obvious."

"It is a horrible tragedy that occurred, and the impact Josue left on so many people," he added, "it's enormous."

Chiecchi already planning second El Paso-themed book

What became Chiecchi's first book began as his thesis at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was earning a degree after making the leap from journalism to academia.

"This book was an idea I got when I was studying to get my master's at UTEP," Chiecchi said. "So, this was an extension of my master's thesis, and I decided, and it was recommended to me as well, that I should have it published."

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Chiecchi took that advice and self-published his book, which is available on Amazon in paperback or for Kindle.

And while this is Chiecchi's first offering as an author, he has long dreamed of writing a book and previously edited one. He said he already has begun research for a second El Paso-themed work.

"El Paso is my hometown," Chiecchi said, musing about his experiences at the Times and the Herald-Post before that, as well as his entrance into the world of teaching at his alma mater, UTEP.

Though other projects already are in the offing, Chiecchi is optimistic that his book will shine a light on a crisis that is killing the nation's young people every day.

"One of the things I wanted to accomplish (with the book) is that there are 12 youth suicides every day," Chiecchi said. "To try to put your hands around the number 12 is difficult, but to spotlight one, hopefully, will give a picture of just how desperate the situation has become."