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Family, friends gather to remember student who tumbled to his death

By Da Lin

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    SANTA CLARA, California (KPIX) — On Sunday night, family and friends celebrated the life of a promising Santa Clara University student who died after leaving a fraternity party.

There’s still a lot of questions over how 20-year-old Justin Ebner died. His family believes it was an accident.

A few hundred people packed the Mission Church on campus to pray for his family.

While the parents asked for privacy, friends wanted people to know Ebner, at 6’7″, was a gentle giant and had a kind soul.

“Justin had this contagious energy around him,” said childhood friend, Brett Allen. “Just happiness and joy. He made everyone around him feel happy and excited just to be alive.”

Allen flew into town to pay respects to his childhood friend. They grew up playing sports. In fact, Ebner was an accomplished volleyball player. In high school, he and his team won the Boys Junior National Championship in 2018.

“The chapel was overflowing with people. (It) speaks to how many lives he’s touched,” said Allen.

San Jose police said they found Ebner on Wednesday in the area of Santa Clara and Cahill Streets. His father posted on social media Ebner was walking back to campus alone from a fraternity party. He said his son somehow fell 15 to 20 feet and passed away due to head trauma.

“Very tragic accident,” Allen said. “And it’s just unbelievable not fair. He had a bright future ahead of him.”

The junior business student was a member of Sigma Pi. Fellow fraternity brothers said they’ll miss him.

“He could hang out with everyone pretty much. He was a joyful spirit and that just came naturally to him,” said Ethan Collins, a fellow Sigma Pi fraternity brother.

San Jose police said they do not suspect foul play in Ebner’s death. The coroner’s office is handling the case.

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