Friends mourn San Jose man killed in shooting

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - It was a somber gathering Monday night for a south San Jose man who was found shot to death inside a car on Valentine's Day. He is San Jose's latest homicide victim. The shooting happened behind an apartment complex on Via Monte Drive near Carlsbad Drive.

The victim didn't have much family but he had many friends in the neigbhorhood. They kept calling him a good man and they don't understand why he was killed.

At 8 p.m. Monday night, grieving neighbors gathered to pray and to pay respects to their friend they called D.C. There, they lit candles, placed flowers and balloons at a growing memorial in the alleyway where he died.

The coroner has not released his identity. Neighbors said around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, he was helping park his roommate's car when they heard several gun shots. When police arrived, they found the car had crashed into a pole and the victim had died at the scene.

"He was so good to everybody," said Terry Starnes who is the victim's friend. "He fixed all the kids bikes in the neighborhood. Everytime he had a flat tire he would fix their bikes and he fed peopole that were hungry. If you didn't have a place to spend the night, he would let you spend the night at his house. He was just awesome."

"It's a tragedy," said Christine Geniz, who is the victim's friend. "Things like this don't have to happen but they do. Bullets don't have names. They walked up to him at close range. He didn't have it coming. I don't think anyone has that coming."

Many children were at Monday's vigil. Neighbors have no idea if this was a case of mistaken idenity or if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time but they're devastated he's gone.

Police have not revealed a motive and so far, there are no suspects. Anyone with information is encouraged to call San Jose Police or if you want to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-7867.