A popular rugby coach gunned down inside his car in Golden Hill is being remembered as a devoted father and ever-helpful friend as his team makes one final gesture in his honor.
Flowers and a candle mark the spot where Vaafuti Togiailua, 41, was shot a half dozen times in the chest and head on Nov. 5, just two blocks from his Golden Hill apartment.
The memorial was left there by a neighbor who didn't even know him but was compelled by the life he had led.
Togiailua is remembered as man with a heart as big as his passion for his family and rugby.
Vaafuti, or "Vaa" as his friends called him, was a player and, for the last three years, the assistant coach of the Old Mission Bay Athletic Club Rugby team.
Head coach Jason Wood thought the world of him.
“He was a devoted father and just a great person. He was always helping people out,” Woods said.
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Wood and the team shared a collective shock over this mysterious death.
“The last five or six days has been a team mourning over the loss of such a great guy,” Wood said.
Now, San Diego Police are searching for the motorcyclist who witnesses say pulled the trigger. The suspect is described as a person with full helmet and a long sleeved, gray jumpsuit.
Wood says the victim was on his way to work when the suspect parked beside the car and fired in the driver-side window.
“Let's put it in the hands of San Diego's finest and let them figure it out and trust that they will,” Wood said.
This is the second such brutal killing in the OMBAC organization in as many years.
Last April, well-known San Diego architect Graham Downes was beaten to death by a coworker. Vaa and Downes were teammates.
Vaa is Samoan, so with almost all his family overseas, the team went to work on raising money to fly them here.
So far they've raised $12,000, and they hope to return his remains to Samoa for burial.
The team gets together for practice for the first time since Vaa's death this Thursday. They are planning a memorial service to coincide with the season opener next month.
