Person killed at Morgan Hill party was 18-year-old high school senior, family says

The person killed in a shooting at a Morgan Hill party on Saturday night was a high school senior who loved to play sports and was known for his “beautiful smile,” his family said.

Desiderio Romero V, an 18-year-old lifelong resident of San Jose, was fatally shot at the gathering on Saturday, his grandfather Desiderio Romero III confirmed on Tuesday.

Desiderio Romero V, who went by “Desi” and was nicknamed “Pepper” within his family, was the third of four children and the only son in the family, his grandfather said.

“He always had a beautiful smile,” Desiderio Romero III said. “He loved his family and his friends.”

Desiderio Romero V lived with his grandparents, his parents and three sisters from the time he was young, Desiderio Romero III said. He was getting ready to start his senior year of high school in the fall and was trying to figure out whether he wanted to attend college or a trade school.

The shooting occurred at an unsanctioned party near the intersection of Hale Avenue and Miramonte Avenue in Morgan Hill, an area tucked between fields and a mushroom farm. Police were called to the scene around 10:15 p.m. July 25 after gunshots rang out, sending more than 300 people fleeing.

Seven people were shot. On Monday, four victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds and two victims had been treated and released.

The incident remains under investigation and authorities have not yet released any information about suspects or arrests.

An online fundraiser has been set up on behalf of the Romero family to help pay for funeral and memorial costs.

A sports lover, Desi played both football and baseball, his grandfather said. In football, he was a running back and cornerback, and in baseball, he played center field, first base, pitcher and catcher. He was coached by both his dad and his grandfather and won district championships.

“(As a kid,) he was playing for his dad and some running back from the other team, he was like 40 yards down field, and usually at a five or six-year-old level, the kids just say, ‘I ain’t going over there,’ ” he said. “But he busted his butt and he tackled the guy at the five-yard line. He didn’t give up.”

His grandfather, who was a board member for his grandson’s football club, added that after meetings they would sit together and eat hotdogs with mustard and onion. When the elder Romero stayed late to close down the football field, Desi would often stay with him and the pair would piece together a dinner from whatever was left over in the snack shack.

He enjoyed not only playing sports but watching them as well. Desiderio Romero III recently took Desi and his sisters to a Warriors game.

“He wanted a Draymond Green jersey, but I didn’t get it for him because it was the end of the season, and so I go, ‘We’ll go again,’ ” he said. “And we never did.

“He had me (wrapped) around his fingers,” Desiderio Romero III said of his devotion to his grandson.

“He was very protective of his sisters,” he added. “It’s like a brother that’s annoying. He would go and harass them, annoy them, get on their nerves, but they all loved each other. His sisters loved him and he loved them.”

Desi spent much of the day he died with his grandfather. He mowed the front lawn before his grandfather woke up, then emptied out the recycling, Desiderio Romero III said. He later asked his grandfather to take him to get a haircut, then to the Eastridge Mall to buy a baseball cap and some of their favorite white JCPenney t-shirts, where they also made sure to stop for a frozen yogurt.

“After that, he took a shower and he goes – he calls me Poppy – he goes, ‘Poppy, I’m going to go now,’ and I go, ‘Okay, be careful,’ ” Desiderio Romero III said.

“We always said, ‘We love you.’ He used to ask me why I said that. And I used to tell him, ‘Well, what if I go across the street and I get hit by a car? At least you’ll know that I told you that,’ ” he added. “He was just a good kid at the wrong place at the wrong time.”