Community remembers slain best friends,‘the life of the party,’ at candlelight vigil
Happy. Good-hearted. Friendly.
That’s how Scott Alex Gaffney and Brennen Julian Fairhead, both 21, of Fresno, were described Friday night at a candlelight vigil in their memory.
“They were very nice people and I wouldn’t expect anyone to have anything out for them,” recalled Yvette Gomez, 21, who said she had been a friend since high school.
“It still doesn’t feel real. It feels like it’s all a dream like I’m thinking that one of them is going to come and say that, ‘It’s a joke’ and ‘Just kidding,’ ” she added while crying.
The two were shot to death about 24 hours earlier, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said, by Gary Lee Perry Jr., also described as a friend.
The three were in a car, police said, when Perry opened fire on Fairhead, then on Gaffney as he was trying to run away.
Up to 60 people honored the two at the vigil in the 10000 block of Grouse Run, where their bodies were found when police arrived Thursday night.
“We’re right here celebrating the life of two amazing people that touched a lot of people’s heart. Brennen and Scott,” Gomez said. “They had a lot of people who cared about them tremendously.”
The two appeared to be best friends and were always the “life of the party,” she added.
“They were both very good friends to me when no one was there,” Gomez said. “Scott was always there to listen to me for all of the year I got to know him. Brennen would open up his house to me when I didn’t have a place to stay.”
Martin Espana, who said he considered Scott to be like a brother, said when walking outside Friday that he felt empty and as if there was no sunlight.
“He’s the light in the room. He’s the energy,” Espana said. “He was the energy that I would bounce off of.”
Espana said Scott was his biggest supporter and always helped him through hardships.
“I was going through a very hard time this year and Scott, he’s the reason why I got over that hump,” Espana said. “So now that he passed, I don’t want to revert back.”
Chueyee Yang: 559-441-6447, @chueyee15
This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Community remembers slain best friends,‘the life of the party,’ at candlelight vigil."