SORRENTO VALLEY (CBS8) - One week after 18-year-old Garrett Berki was killed after answering an ad on Craigslist, family and friends said their tearful goodbyes at his funeral service.
It was standing room only inside El Camino Memorial's Sorrento Valley Chapel. During the service, Garrett's mom Connie reflected, "In the past few days, I've wondered how his life would have turned out." She said, "His life was cut short. We will never see the man he would have become." His father Edward said, "He was a really really happy kid."
All they have now are memories of Garrett as a beautiful baby, an inquisitive child, and a happy teenager who never shied away from saying how much he cared about his family. Connie said Garrett always ended their conversations with, "I love you mom, or just I love you. It was always said. It wasn't something I asked. He just said it."
They say Garrett, a Mesa College student and La Jolla High School grad, had big dreams. He loved the ocean and had taught himself how to surf. He had a passion for fixing cars, and an entrepreneurial spirit. His mom said he was accepted to San Francisco State last year, but they convinced him to stay closer to home, explaining, "We felt he wasn't quite ready and we wanted to keep him safe."
But nothing could protect Garrett last week Wednesday when a bullet pierced his windshield and struck him in the chest. His girlfriend, Ali Faudoa, was with him that night in Paradise Hills as they responded to a Craigslist ad for a laptop computer. Police say three 17-year-olds robbed the couple, then shot at Garrett's car as they suspects tried to escape.
At the funeral service, Ali said, "Thank you for being the greatest first boyfriend a girl could ask for. I love you so much, I am never going to forget you."
Family and friends say Garrett always knew how to make you laugh, but had a serious side as well. A friend who recalled a recent heart to heart conversation he had with Garrett about death said, "It brings me to peace to have heard you say that if you were to die today, you would be content, because you gave your all, lived an amazing life, and are blessed with the best people you could have been blessed with."
Garrett's mom asked his friends to "carry him in your heart, remember him always, and know he's looking down from Heaven smiling."
Garrett will be buried at 11am Thursday at El Camino Memorial Park. His family and friends plan to hold a paddle out Thursday at 7pm, in front of his home in Mission Beach.
