An Arizona State University freshman died in an accidental fall while celebrating spring break in Mexico, the school said Tuesday.
Classes resumed at ASU this week, but without 18-year-old Aiden Nevarez, who died during the school holiday, university spokesman Jay Throne told NBC News.
Nevarez and his friends arrived at the Hotel Riu Santa Fe in Cabo San Lucas on March 6, when the he fatally fell over a short wall, they told NBC affiliate KPNX.
The friends described a short vegetation-lined wall, with palm trees on the other side. That small barrier allegedly masked what's a 20-foot drop on the other side.
"He was the happiest, most genuine kid that I knew," said friend and fellow ASU student Jack Fitzgerald, who was on the trip. "He was so loved, everybody loved Aiden."
Just a day before his death, Fitzgerald recalled how happy his friend was about this trip and life in general.
"I could almost kind of quote it word-for-word, but he says, he goes, 'Jack, we have the best lives ever,' " he recounted.
A representative for the hotel could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.
“We love him so much and we’re going to miss him until we see him again,” the ASU student's grieving mother, Sayra Nevarez, told the Arizona Republic newspaper.
“I know wherever he’s at right now, he’s going to conquer because that’s who Aiden was.”
