On March 18, the Student Bar Association held a candlelight
vigil for third-year law student Peter Santos, who passed away
March 15. He was 28.
Elizabeth Cheadle, assistant dean of students for the Law
School, said Santos died of natural causes.
The vigil was held in the Law School courtyard and more than 50
students, professors and administrators came to share often tearful
remembrances of the deceased.
Santos passed away while visiting his mother in his hometown of
Carmichael, near Sacramento.
His funeral was held in Carmichael on March 20.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in
1996, Santos pursued a career in entertainment.
He worked as a staff writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
and wrote a number of sitcom pilots.
He also worked as a stand-up comedian in venues around the
country before entering the UCLA School of Law in the fall of
2000.
Santos is remembered for his popularity and sense of humor.
Third-year law student Brenda Tavakoli, a close friend of
Santos, said “he could put a smile on everyone’s
face.”
Santos’ friends and professors also remember his
intelligence and potential.
Cheadle said Santos had a “tremendous amount of
promise.”
Santos hoped to work as an entertainment lawyer and had secured
a position with Granada Entertainment.
He would have graduated this May.
While a student, Santos wrote for the Docket, the law school
newspaper, and edited the Entertainment Law Review.
Santos also served as a student mentor to first-year law
students and acted as the student liaison to the Beverly Hills Bar
Association.
Damare Theriot, Santos’ girlfriend, said his ambition was
to become a network television executive.
His friends had an “ongoing bet that he would run NBC one
day,” Tavakoli said.
Santos is survived by his mother Teresa and his father
Pedro.