The family of Steven Weatherford started Christmas Day mourning his loss. He died trying to save his family from their burning house in Oakland Christmas morning.
“Steven was truly the best person you could ever meet. He loved his family, his friends, everybody so much. He died trying to get them out of the house. And he succeeded! I loved him so much,” says Lashante Mayo, Steven’s girlfriend.
She just learned on Christmas morning that he was going to propose on New Year’s Eve.
“I know he is looking down on us right now. I don’t know what else to say. I just wish he was here right now,” says Mayo.
His aunt Eunice Smith, says for generations, the Weatherfords hosted big holidays like Christmas at the family home. She says Steven was sleeping on the couch when the fire erupted.
“He was trying to save everybody, make sure everybody was out of the house. He may not have known they all went out the back. And my other nephew was calling for him because they were in the back and they were calling, ‘Steven! Steven! Come out! Come out!’ And they heard him screaming. And he never made it out,” says Smith.