In a heart-wrenching incident in Texas, a funeral home worker met a tragic end after being crushed by a burial vault. His wife, Nataly Rojas, shared the devastating details of how her husband, Angel Rojas, managed to leave her a voicemail while trapped beneath the massive concrete structure. “He told me he loved me and he wanted to go home,” she recounted. Now, Nataly is contemplating legal action, citing potential negligence.

During a recent press conference, Nataly Rojas described the harrowing moments of her husband’s final hours. “My husband was pinned under a vault, pleading for help, pleading for air,” she conveyed to reporters, as reported by local ABC affiliate WFAA. “He was scared,” she added, recalling his desperate wish to return home.

Angel Rojas, just 24 years old, was employed by Restland Funeral Home, where he was tasked with operating heavy machinery to move concrete burial vaults. These vaults serve to protect caskets and bodies from the elements. It was during such a task in a storage yard that one of the vaults tragically toppled onto him, pinning him to the ground. In the aftermath, Angel made two phone calls: one seeking help and the other a poignant message to his wife, which went to voicemail.

Nataly vividly remembers his words in the voicemail. “He just wanted to be held,” she said. “He told me he loved me and he wanted to go home.” The anguish in her voice underscores the depth of her loss.

According to Dallas Fire Rescue, when emergency responders reached the scene, they found Angel trapped from the waist down. Utilizing hydraulic spreaders and airbags, they managed to lift the heavy vault and free him, but only after a grueling 45 minutes. Despite their efforts, Angel was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to a local hospital.

Dallas Fire Rescue told WFAA that when firefighters arrived, they reportedly found Angel Rojas pinned from the waist down by the vault. First responders were able to lift the receptacle using hydraulic spreaders and air bags to free him after more than 45 minutes of being under the vault. He was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead upon his arrival.

“My husband was a smart worker,” Nataly Rojas said at this week’s press conference. “My husband knew the risk of a small error. My husband knew the precautions to everything he was doing. I don’t know what happened. But whatever did happen, he never should have been there alone.”

Nataly Rojas and her family have hired a lawyer, Matthew Graham with the J. Alexander Law Firm, for possible legal action against the Restland Funeral Home that employed him. “We believe it is grossly negligent of Restland for them to have put him in that position and for them to have caused his death, frankly,” Graham said during this week’s press conference.

“What we know about this situation is that there is no way on earth this man should have been operating that machinery alone,” Graham charged. “He shouldn’t have been working alone. He shouldn’t have been moving things of that weight alone.”

The funeral home did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment Tuesday, but did provide a statement to WFAA saying, “We are saddened by the loss of our long-standing valued employee. We are cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause. His family and his fellow Restland employees need our support and we ask that we all give them space and time to grieve.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reportedly investigating the circumstances surrounding Angel Rojas’ death and probing whether there was any wrongdoing, WFAA reports.

“It’s a tragedy, it truly is,” Graham said, noting how Nataly Rojas is currently weighing her legal options, including a gross negligence lawsuit. “If there is one thing we can do for his memory and for this family is to try to keep this from happening to anybody else.”