SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The San Diego-based rock band Pierce the Veil is coping with the devastating loss of their manager and friend, Dave Shapiro, on board the plane that crashed into a Murphy Canyon neighborhood.
In the corner of the music studio in the back of Victor Fuentes Sr.'s home sits a Polaroid photo that captured the confidence before the success.
“It’s a photo of Dave and my son,” said Fuentes.
Fuentes says his son, co-founder of Pierce the Veil, called him Thursday and broke the news: his longtime friend and booking agent David Shapiro was on board the plane that crashed into a Murphy Canyon neighborhood, killing him and five others.
"Dave Shapiro is like a brother to him. He broke down, crying most of the day in his hotel," Fuentes said.
Fuentes says after Shapiro attended a Pierce the Veil concert at Madison Square Garden that night, his son had dinner with Shapiro and several others on that flight, before the flight took off.
"My heart just dropped, devastated," Fuentes said.
A heartbroken Fuentes, who saw Shapiro three to six times a year, sometimes for meetings in the music studio, credits Shapiro with guiding his son for the past 18 years, booking bigger and bigger venues each year.
"You knew he was going to stick up for your band," Fuentes said. "He cared about music, he cared about serious musicians trying to make it," Fuentes said.
Fuentes says Shapiro and his son also shared a friendship. Shapiro would take his son out on one of his several airplanes. His son was confident in Shapiro's flying experience and ability.
"My son would go on private rides," Fuentes said.
On Thursday, Shapiro's business jet crashed into a neighborhood, killing all on board, including a man who had been there from the start for Fuentes' son.
"We're going to miss Dave Shapiro. Don’t know how we are going to replace him," Fuentes said.
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