WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Yessica Ivonne Bernal remembers texting her son Francisco Jesus Cuenca Bernal Thursday night just hours before the unthinkable happened.
"He messaged me that night," she said. "He lived with his dad; he told me he was going to go with his friends, told the same thing to his dad, but he never came back."
The next day, Yessica learned that her son 15-year-old son was dead after being found with gunshot wounds in the driver's seat of a crashed car.
"I still can't believe it. I haven't seen his body; every day I hope maybe he's not dead," Yessica said. "He was just 15 and they killed him in such a horrible way."
Details of what led up to Francisco's death are still unknown, but police say they don't have any information to indicate gang involvement at this time. Yessica says her family is left wondering why Francisco was taken from them.
READ: Suspect charged with murder 9 months after Utah 19-year-old's disappearance
"He was friendly, he liked to play sports, he was no gang-related or nothing like that," Yessica said. "He did dress baggy, but he never used any specific colors or anything like that, so I'm not sure why they did this to us."
Yessica says she had Francisco at a young age, so he was her best friend. They enjoyed their Lagoon trips, and he enjoyed being a sibling. Yessica says even if police do find the suspect, there will forever be a hole in her heart.
"He was always there. He would be the one messaging me all the time: 'How you are doing? How is your day going?' and now no one is going to do that," Yessica said. "Nothing's going to bring him back, and unfortunately that pain is never going to heal."
West Valley City Police had no further information to release as of Sunday, but they do expect more information to be released in the coming days.
