SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — This week, a Bay Area man would have been 27 years old.
Aya Nakano’s life was taken away four years ago in a fender bender that turned deadly. His mother has renewed her plea for the public’s help in finding her son’s killers.
He was known for his generosity, his compassion, and his ability to bring people together.
Nothing can bring him back, but now what his family and friends want is justice.
Nakano was brutally murdered on Jun. 12, 2013. Just before 11 p.m., the Emeryville resident was on his way home after playing basketball on the Cal campus.
Police say his car was rear-ended near Market and Stanford Avenue in Oakland.
Then, the unthinkable.
When Nakano got out of his car, the other driver and passenger shot and killed him just an hour before his birthday.
“It was just so surreal,” the victim’s mother Maria Climaco said. “It was already past midnight, and it was his birthday, and to hear…even to this day…you know, I vacillate between reality and wishful thinking.“
The FBI in conjunction with Oakland police are investigating the murder and have offered up to $125,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the killers.
To this day, no one has been arrested for the murder.
But Nakano’s mom is hopeful the day will come.
“What do I have left really, except hope and faith that someday someone will come forward with some useful information about the people that took Aya away from us,” Climaco said.
She will be meeting with Oakland police in the coming days in hopes of some clue that will lead to justice for her only child.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
- 4 DEAD, INCLUDING GUNMAN, AFTER SHOOTING AT SF UPS CENTER
- WITNESS SAYS HE SAW FIRST SHOT AT UPS CENTER, RAN FOR HIS LIFE’
- UPS WORKER DESCRIBES TERROR, PANIC DURING SHOOTING
- GUNMAN WOUNDS GOP CONGRESSMAN, THEN KILLED BY POLICE
- VIDEO CAPTURES MOMENT GUNMAN OPENS FIRE AT GOP BASEBALL TEAM
- CANCER-CAUSING COMPOUND IN EAST BAY DRINKING WATER REACHES NEAR CRITICAL LEVEL
- WARRIORS CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE HAPPENING THURSDAY