A solemn goodbye

<p>He loved making music, snowboarding and the Oakland Raiders, and Ben Floriani's friends and family are struggling to grasp why his young life ended in a flash of violence at a late-night party in Santa Rosa.</p><p>On Saturday, a week after the 21-year-old San Francisco State University student was stabbed to death, hundreds of people packed the Sebastopol Community Center for a solemn and tearful tribute to a young man who grew up among them and graduated from Analy High.</p><p>While their remembrances filled in the picture of his life, the events surrounding the fatal confrontation at an apartment on West Ninth Street remain shrouded in mystery.</p><p>That confrontation injured three of Floriani's friends -- ages 20 to 22. Four other young men -- ages 19 to 20 -- face murder or related charges.</p><p>"Unfortunately all sides lose here," said Ron Floriani, an uncle who spoke on behalf of the family and extended condolences to the families of both the injured and the suspects.</p><p>As they continue their investigation, Santa Rosa police declined to say what provoked the slaying. But Police Chief Ed Flint said the public may never get a satisfactory explanation for such a tragedy.</p><p>"I think law enforcement struggles as much as anybody to make sense of these things," Flint said.</p><p>At the memorial Saturday, the unanswered questions surrounding Floriani's death were set aside while friends and family paid their respects.</p><p>Photo images of Floriani at different stages of his life were seen on an overhead projector. A silver urn containing his ashes was placed at a table near a photo of him as a young boy.</p><p>In almost every image, Floriani wore the same timeless smile.</p><p>"We might say Ben colored outside the lines periodically," Ron Floriani said. He noted that his nephew began having academic success at SF State and was planning to transfer eventually to UC Berkeley to study business.</p><p>"When he made that dean's honor list, it was a pretty cool deal," he said.</p><p>Floriani's friends and family remembered him as smart, independent and happy, a proud young man with a style and a confident swagger.</p><p>"He was a really solid guy," said Jon Nechodom, 22. " 'Solid' is a good word for him."</p><p>Floriani's family is widely known in Sebastopol, where his mother was on the committee that built the Super Playground 15 years ago and his father had served on the youth soccer league's board.</p><p>The common reaction has been how his death was so unexpected and tragic.</p><p>"He was one of those kids that just showed a lot of potential," said retired Analy teacher Larry Jay, who taught Floriani trigonometry and coached him on the golf team.</p><p>A fight at a party off West Ninth Street ended early Dec. 16 with Floriani's death and injuries to his three friends, all young men with ties to Sebastopol. Four more young men from Santa Rosa were charged with crimes related to the fight -- three with murder and one with being an accessory to murder.</p><p>Exactly what happened has yet to be revealed.</p><p>Ron Floriani said he believes the Blair Place apartment where the party was held was rented by two girls his nephew knew.</p><p>By some accounts, 50 or more people were on hand. One partygoer described an argument between a group of young men, though the reason remains unclear.</p><p>Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa Banayat said alcohol was served at the party, though she declined to say whether any was consumed by either the suspects or those who were injured or killed.</p><p>"We're not releasing a lot of information out in the public until we can make sure we've spoken to every person present at the party," Banayat said.</p><p>Detectives are searching for even those who left the party before the violence "in an effort to try to determine . . . what preceded the fight," she said.</p><p>After the fight, brothers Efran Vasquez, 22, and Aniano Vasquez, 21, were hospitalized, and Martin Ponzo, 20, was treated for injuries and released.</p><p>Those charged with murder are Matthew Timothy O'Day, 19, Alex Paul Hopper, 20, and Donald Blake Bittner, 19. In addition, Noah Minuskin, 19, is charged as an accessory to murder.</p><p>A fifth Santa Rosa man, O'Day's younger brother, Rory O'Day, 18, was arrested as an accessory suspect but was subsequently released and has not been charged.</p><p>Many involved or affected by the violence were either unavailable or unwilling to comment.</p><p>Minuskin was described by family friends as a friend of Rory O'Day since they attended Santa Rosa's Steele Lane Elementary School together.</p><p>Over the course of the week, friends and family of Ben Floriani have talked about his life.</p><p>His father, Don Floriani, recalled how his son made Analy's varsity golf team as a freshman and how he still enjoyed going with his father to play at the Santa Rosa Golf &amp; Country Club, where the family has a membership.</p><p>Ben Floriani had moved to Oakland several months ago and was working two days a week at his grandfather's medical practice in the city.</p><p>He had Raiders season tickets and a love of creating music using his computer.</p><p>A business major at San Francisco State, he recently had spoken of his interest in pursuing accounting after taking his first class in the subject.</p><p>"He was telling me how he had a love for numbers," Don Floriani said.</p><p>At the memorial service, a friend of Floriani's said his success at SF State "really got him back into learning."</p><p>Jessy Palma, an Analy grad who had dated Floriani for four years, said he worked hard in his college classes and had done well.</p><p>"He was a really caring person and was really generous toward his friends and family," Palma said.</p><p>She said Floriani had gotten together to create music with Aniano Vasquez, and this fall had attended the Santa Rosa Junior College football games where his friend Ponzo was a running back.</p><p>The Vasquez brothers graduated from Analy. Ponzo attended Analy but went on to graduate from Cardinal Newman High in Santa Rosa.</p><p>In the week following the tragedy, many struggled to understand why it occurred. Yet at the same time, there was a positive message of a community rallying around a family in mourning.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writers Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com, and Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@</p><p>pressdemocrat.com.</p>