In a split second, a life is taken.
A past is erased, and a future is stolen.
Krishna Rajaram, a nineteen-year-old UCLA student, was murdered this past weekend, along with his mother, grandmother and two younger brothers in a murder-suicide allegedly committed by his father at their home in Porter Ranch.
Though the brutal crime has sent shock waves through the country, friends of the second-year business economics student mourn the loss of a brilliant, kind young man with a limitless future ahead of him.
Members of his close-knit co-ed fraternity, Delta Phi Beta, were rocked by the untimely death of the friend.
“We were nothing less than a family, and when your brother gets taken away from you, it’s a heart-wrenching experience,” said Natasha Parikh, a second-year business economics student.
She is also the new student educator for Delta Phi Beta and was in Rajaram’s pledge class last year.
Vimukta Mahadev, another member of Rajaram’s pledge class, said Rajaram was an incredibly thoughtful and intelligent person.
“I never heard him say anything bad about anybody. He was just always pleasant. He always helped you out,” Mahadev said.
Sriram Prakash was a close friend of Rajaram. He remembers Rajaram as an outstanding person in every sense of the word, a Fulbright scholar as well as a caring, humble and personable individual.
“He had a 3.92 (GPA). He was going to graduate summa cum laude, no doubt. He was just considered a genius, and he’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met. Everyone who met him loved him,” Prakash said.
Anna Rambhatla had known Rajaram since elementary school, though they weren’t good friends until college when she was his big sister within the fraternity.
“We really became close last year since he came to college. He was my little brother in the frat, and I just loved him,” Rambhatla said.
Parikh said Rajaram was “just a brilliant person” and that he had a lot to look forward to in life.
“He wanted to become a very successful entrepreneur. He helped me with every single one of my econ classes. He was just so brilliant, I really don’t know anyone with his mind’s capabilities,” Parikh said.
Many members of the fraternity considered Rajaram a brother to them.
“He was like a little brother to me, and he was definitely one of the kindest, most genuine people I knew,” Imran Sayeedi said.
Sayeedi and Rambhatla both touched on Krishna’s love for the Lakers.
Sayeedi said Rajaram knew every statistic for every player, and he insisted on watching each game in full.
Rambhatla said basketball was among Rajaram’s many interests.
“He was so passionate about so many things, movies, the Lakers. … He was an amazing guy, and he had such a bright future ahead of him,” Rambhatla said.
Victor Bhattacharjee, one of last year’s co-presidents of Delta Phi Beta, said this has been an emotionally charged week for Rajaram’s fellow fraternity members.
“It’s like a movie; it couldn’t happen in real life. (It’s) a really, really emotional time for us. … It’s a time for healing. We vowed to hang out even more than we already do, and we were already close-knit. It’s just tragic,” Bhattacharjee said.
Namita Gupta, the other of last year’s co-presidents of Delta Phi Beta, said the fraternity came together Monday evening to discuss their memories of Krishna.
Gupta said she first met Krishna at a rush week barbecue last year.
“He’s the one person who always had a smile on his face, he was never upset about anything,” Gupta said.
Many members of the fraternity expressed how they wished they had seen Rajaram more often. Mahadev said Rajaram went home every single weekend to see his younger brothers, Arjuna and Ganesha, and to see his father, whom he considered his role model.
“He talked about his dad a lot, in a good way, about how he was his inspirational person,” Mahadev said.
Overall, Rajaram’s friends said they will miss his kindness, his willingness to help anyone at a moment’s notice and his humble demeanor in spite of his academic success.
They said he was excited about the fraternity’s rush activities going on last week and had promised to stay at the fraternity the next weekend for the first time. Friends shared stories about playing Mario Kart, working together at fraternity community service events and staying up late just chatting and watching TV.
Parikh said she couldn’t understand how this could have happened to such a wonderful person.
“He had such a zest for life and someone who’s that passionate about trying to make a difference and make his friends happy. Those people are very rare, and he was one of them. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to know him. … He just had so much ahead of him, and for that to be taken away, that’s cruel.”
A candlelight vigil will be held in Krishna Rajaram’s memory at 8 p.m. in Bruin Plaza on Friday. Everyone, including people who did not know him, is invited to attend to honor his life.