SOUTH OGDEN, Utah — The family of Brandon Kay describes him as a gentle giant and a big teddy bear, who always had the warmest smile.
Kay died a few days after being shot in front of his home in South Ogden almost two weeks ago, in the area of 1300 East and 5800 South. Police arrested his neighbor across the street, James Joseph Rios, after the shooting overnight on Jan. 8. Now, Kay's family is trying to cope with this unimaginable loss.
"Hasn’t seemed real, seems like a bad dream,” said Matt McFarland, Kay's brother.
"He was the light that everybody needed,” said Kay's daughter, Mercedez Smith. “He saw the good in everybody. He was so selfless,” she added.
Kay was a dad to three kids, Donovan, Mercedez and Ashton, who deeply miss their dad. "My father is my hero for so many reasons,” said his eldest, Donovan Rogers. “He taught me how to be strong, courageous.”
"He was such a patient man,” said Smith. “Our family needed him, he is the core of our family.”
Kay's family described him as being quiet, but someone who would always listen, and could have conversations with you about any topic. He was kind, loved his family and was a man of faith.
"I think he'd want to be remembered as a child of God, as one redeemed by Jesus, and his whole life was a testament to that,” said McFarland. “He was a great dad, a great husband, a great brother, great friend,” he said.
Matt Wardle, the president of JD Machine, worked with Kay for over 20 years, and said he is missed at work as well. He was instrumental to the company’s growth and took pride in his work. "I would see him nearly every day,” said Wardle. “And the next time I went to work, I walked out into the area he worked and fully expecting to see him, and his smile and his greeting, and talk with him. That vacancy, it was palpable.”
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Brandon Kay’s son, Ashton Kay, was also shot in the foot that night. He is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries. He said people tell him he looks and is like his dad.
“My dad was just my dad, my friend,” Ashton said. "Any chance we would get, we would always go play pickleball... We're both super competitive. He would tease me because I’d never beaten him. And I won’t get that chance to now."
The family could not tell us much about what happened that night because of the ongoing investigation, but said they are grateful for law enforcement's help.
"The Ogden Metro Police SWAT, that was so courageous that night and provided a barrier for us to get out of the house, that means a lot. They put their lives for us,” Rogers said.
Now, his family is just trying to move forward, thinking about Brandon‘s ability to forgive others.
"He was able to forgive this whole situation before any of us were able to,” Smith said. “And that’s so admirable because this is such a tragic thing.”
“It really speaks to who he was. There’s nobody like him,” Rogers added.
They said they are so thankful for the outpouring from all over.
"So much love and support from people we don’t even know. He touched so many lives. It’s so beautiful seeing how many people he impacted,” Smith said.
There is a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with funeral expenses.
