SAN ANTONIO — 29-year-old Brandon Mendoza was a young dad who loved his family, fishing and his Chevy Tahoe, and now his friends are coping with his loss by trying to help his family recover.

Mendoza died when he crashed into a tree on the far west side Wednesday night at the corner of Meadow Way and Meadow Glen near Marbach Road and Loop 410.

The preliminary crash report from SAPD says they are not sure what caused Mendoza to lose control, but two days later, candles are still burning and the wreckage of a privacy fence is still scattered across the yard.

Mendoza's young son Lazarus, who is bereft, said "He was a good man. He used to make crazy foods and they would be good. But now he's in heaven."

His baby daughter Brielle, who is deaf, may be too young to remember her dad but his

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