31-year-old Felix Brandon Cruz of Visalia was taken off life support Monday night, after he was critically injured in a carjacking Sunday in Las Vegas.
Neighbors of the Cruz family say Brandon was a quiet boy.
“You couldn't find a better person than him. He was a real nice person,” said a neighbor, who asked not to be identified.
One neighbor whose children grew up with Brandon didn't want to talk on camera but said his heart goes out to the family.
“It’s sad, very sad,” the neighbor said.
Friends say Brandon graduated from Orosi high school in 2000.
He was working as a property manager in Visalia with Steve Duerre.
“He left, he said see you guys on Monday. The last words you get, ‘see you guys on Monday’ and uhh, we'll never see him again,” said Duerre, Equity Group president.
This past weekend Brandon went to Las Vegas for his brother-in-law Jesse's bachelor party.
But it ended with a deadly carjacking.
It happened at the Flamingo Hotel.
As the pair was loading up luggage in Jesse's pickup, police say James Montgomery jumped behind the wheel.
Brandon was in the bed of the truck.
Jesse - a CHP officer - ran behind the truck and was able to jump in the bed, trying to help his brother-in-law.
Investigators say Montgomery ran several red lights until the truck was hit by an SUV and crashed into a light pole, throwing Brandon and Jesse out of the truck.
Brandon is survived by a wife and two young children.
Jesse was scheduled to get married next month.
Friends have organized a memorial ride and fund raiser for Saturday, August 24th at 10:30AM. Participants will meet at the A&W on Mooney Boulevard in Visalia and ride to the Pizza Factory in Three Rivers. Proceeds will go to Brandon and Jesse’s families.