"Our special gift": Family, friends remember slain UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm
DAVIS -- Hundreds of family members, friends and UC Davis students spilled out of the International Center on Friday for a celebration of life ceremony honoring slain classmate Karim Abou Najm.
Najm, 20, was the second of three victims attacked in the stabbing spree of a suspected serial killer now behind bars, Carlos Dominguez.
Karim in Arabic means generous, family shared on Friday.
The light he shared among his UC Davis community will eternally shine.
"A brilliant mind and a kind soul. Karim, the gift and the gifted. He is, not was, our special gift," said Karim's father Majdi Abou Najm at the podium.
Family spoke before hundreds, remembering a life lived well. They choose not to dwell on the final moments of what was cut short at the hands of a man they call a 'monster.'
"We will not give the pleasure to the evil to bask on how they upended our lives and shattered our hearts. I will focus on the goodness of humanity, the community and the friends," said Karim's mother, Nadine Yehya.
Friends and even strangers to Karim packed Friday's ceremony, sharing in both the sorrow and the joy.
"Emotional. Many emotions," said attendee Bill Lacy, after the ceremony.
"Karim will always be in our hearts," said student Mazin Samara.
A passion for life and knowledge defined the two decades Karim spent in pursuit of it all, dying just weeks shy of his graduation.
"He was the epitome of what a UC Davis student is," said student Ashley Cobarrubias.
Students are refusing to let darkness win; especially considering the alleged killer was, until recently, a classmate among them.
"Despite any evil that comes and tries to dimmish the good that is in the life of Karim and all of us, we are here still standing strong," said student Timothy Gutierrez.
One message resounds from a family in mourning:
"Everyone, take it from a devastated father, don't take love for granted," said Majdi Abou Najm. "I want you to pick your phone up and call your parents or loved ones and tell them that you love them."
It's a challenge to spread love in the name of Karim.
Family says his legacy is cemented in a scholarship that's now raised over 50,000 dollars. It will support undergraduate UC Davis students doing research, so others can finish the work Karim had only just started.
Click here to donate to the scholarship fund on UC Davis' website.
The other life taken by Dominguez was David Breaux, a beloved community member and the first victim in the series of stabbings. Kimberlee Guillory is the lone survivor of the three attacks.
