Celebrate James' Life: Support His Memorial on Februrary 24

Update: James' Memorial will be held at Forest Lawn in Cathedral City, CA on Feb 24th at 4pm, for 1 hour. There will be a reception afterwards at another location, TBD. Invites will be sent out soon.

Hey there, world. My name is Thomas Montenegro and my brother, James, was murdered. His body was unrecognizable; he could only be identified by his fingerprint. We still don't know what the intention of the murderer was. The murderer is in custody and we hope to find closure by having a memorial for him.

James was an incredibly kind human being. He taught me to drive. He taught me about music. He was my big brother. He was a creator: an artist, filmmaker, musician, teacher, lover, and poet. He worked at the Century Theaters in La Quinta where you could find him slinging pizzas and making popcorn. On occasion, his band, Celluloid Humanoid, could be seen performing at Bart's Lounge in Cathedral City or in backyards all across the Coachella Valley. For a long period of time, James worked as an emergency room security guard at Eisenhower Hospital, where I was born. James saved lives daily. He even de-escalated an active shooter incident, which earned him praise and notoriety from the hospital.

He was a simple man of simple pleasures. He smoked a cigarette in the evenings after the sun went down, when the desert cooled. He enjoyed listening to birds sing. He drank water. He meal-prepped. He had 4+ cats. He paid his bills on time.

Big brother, I know you are still with us in spirit. You have touched so many lives. I love you so much and I will miss hearing your laugh. We are so fortunate to have so many awesome pictures and videos of you.

To James: Mama, Papa, Robert, Venus, and I miss you so much. We love you so much.

Thank you, donors.

https://kesq.com/news/2025/01/30/family-of-34-year-old-man-killed-in-coachella-remember-him-as-a-kind-soul/