'Unapologetically Himself': NJ Man Brought Joy, Fun, Love To Life, Family Says

BRICK, NJ — Lucio Fierro was the life of the party, the person who made life a little more fun and spontaneous, who made life memorable.

"He was unapologetically himself," his cousin, Kattie Castro, said Friday in an interview with Patch. "If it made him happy, he did it."

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Fierro, 24, is the man who died Oct. 24 when he was hit by a car on Brick Boulevard, Castro said. Law enforcement has not released his identity and has released few details about the fatal crash that happened about 11:30 p.m. near North Lake Shore Drive.

The driver stopped and walked back to where Fierro was hit, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

He had been out with friends and was headed home when he was hit, Castro said.

Castro said the family has received sparse information from authorities about the continuing investigation. But they wanted people to know who Fierro was.

Fierro was born and raised in Brick, Castro said, and was very close to his very traditional Mexican family. His grandfather loved to wear a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, and Fierro embraced his Mexican heritage and the family's strong Catholic faith, she said.

"He wore it with so much pride," Castro said. "You could always find him in his cowboy hat and cowboy boots, with his motorcycle."

"He lived the modern cowboy life," she said.

At parties, Fierro was on the center of the dance floor, dancing to the beat of anything from traditional Mexican music to heavy metal, Castro said.

In addition he loved to go fishing and bowling, he enjoyed playing golf. In middle school he could be found skateboarding and continued doing so into adulthood.

Fierro had lifelong friends, and he took joy in making those friends his family. Many of them, including his girlfriend, he had known since third grade, and they went through school and to vocational school together.

They worked at the same company, and hung out together nearly every day. They even got tattoos together, Castro said, and Fierro was covered in them, each of them meaningful. One of his favorites was on his chest, of a Mexican woman in traditional Mexican garb, she said.

"If there was a party and his friends were there, he was there and he was going to the nines on it," she said.

But above all else, Fierro loved his family, which includes his parents, his brother and a host of uncles, aunts and cousins, Castro said.

"Family was everything to him," she said. That extended to him attending the sports activities of his cousin's children. "At 10 a.m. every Sunday he'd ask 'What's the lineup,' " Castro said.

That's why the loss cuts so deeply for his family, she said.

"He was so loved. We've been having vigils for him every night," Castro said. The vigils have brought family and friends sharing memories of the man who was a bright spot in their lives.

"It's just a shame he's not here to see us all together," she said. "We're just trying to make sense of it together."

A memorial has gone up at the crash site, and the family was holding a viewing for him on Friday, with funeral services on Saturday morning, according to his obituary on the O'Brien Home for Funerals site.

As the family waits for answers on what happened, Castro said they are taking comfort in the outpouring of support.

"He was always just there for people," she said. "I'm so glad he had such a wonderful and blessed life."

The sudden loss has the family scrambling to pay for his final arrangements and they have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the expenses.

"Lucio had a way of bringing joy wherever he went," his cousin Mitzi Caballero wrote on the GoFundMe. "He had a childlike spirit that made life a little more fun, a little more spontaneous, and a lot more memorable. His family and friends will miss him more than words can express. It's hard to imagine a world where we have to live a day without him, but we find comfort in knowing that the laughter, love, and unforgettable memories he gave us will live on forever."