CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - A 21-year-old South Bay man is being remembered by family and friends a week after a shooting led to a frantic plea for help near a busy intersection.
Outside a funeral home in National City, a young widow, grieving mother and aunt spoke out, lost in grief.
“We are hurting. I am hurting for my family,” said Sarai Ramirez, Diego Llamas’ aunt.
“It's like a part of you died when he left. A shattered heart, for sure,” said his mother, Agar Ramirez.
Agar knows little of the details but says her son, Diego, was with his younger brother, Charlie, 20, and a friend when they visited someone at Brentwood Park, a mobile home park in Chula Vista, last Tuesday.
As they drove away in a white SUV, there was a hail of gunfire.
“They drove off. Diego told my other son, ‘Charlie, I got shot.’ He asked him, ‘Where?’ He reached out, and his brother just passed out,” said Agar.
Charlie helped flag down a police officer, who performed CPR.
His brother Diego was rushed to a hospital, where he passed away. Agar says Diego was shot twice in the chest.
“It’s something I don’t wish on nobody. Life will never be same when you lose a child, especially from gun violence,” said a tearful Agar.
The 17-year-old driver was shot, but will survive.
The next day, a SWAT team was sent to the mobile home park, but the suspect wasn't there. That same day, 20-year-old Kai Espinoza turned himself in to police.
“It’s not fair what he did. He took my son,” said Agar.
RELATED: Shooter turns himself in after SWAT responded to Chula Vista mobile home
Agar, who says he doesn't know Espinoza, is now mourning her firstborn son.
“He was always smiling,” said Agar.
She calls Diego, who worked on a yucca farm in the East County, a hard-working, caring young man who loved music, cars, drawing and Lilliana, his wife of three years.
“There wasn't a day we spent apart spent since we met,” said Lillian Jefferies.
Loved ones say the person who took Diego away from them must be held accountable.
“I want justice for my kid. He was a good kid. It’s not fair to take somebody's life like that. It’s not yours to take,” said Agar.
Espinoza was arraigned last week, pleading not guilty to a series of charges.
Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.
