Vivek Saini had already booked a flight to return to India on Jan. 25. It would have been the first time he had returned home to see his family in two years.
Instead, he was buried that day in the northern state of Haryana.
“Right now, the future is all buried,” Saini’s 23-year-old cousin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week.
Saini was killed Jan. 16 in a brutal attack at a Chevron gas station where he worked in DeKalb County. Law enforcement officials said security footage captured 53-year-old Julian Faulkner hitting Saini multiple times in the head, face and body with a hammer.
In the days leading up to the attack, Saini had shown his accused assailant concern and compassion, his cousin said. He remarked that he wasn’t surprised to hear that Saini had offered aid to the man, but he’s now struggling to understand why it ultimately led to his death.
Since May, Saini had been working as a clerk at the gas station on Snapfinger Road. The job was serving as a steppingstone for the 25-year-old. His cousin, who did not want to be identified for his privacy and that of his family’s, explained that Saini had hoped to eventually acquire his own gas stations before launching a more personal business.
Saini moved to Norcross with several Indian classmates after earning his MBA in management from the University of North Alabama in Florence, where his cousin also attends and is working toward his bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Saini and his cousin had always been close. In fact, they were the only two members of their families to move to the United States. His cousin said Saini never failed to help him in times of need and was always willing to lend a hand to others.
The day before the attack, Saini’s cousin said he drove to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to pick up a friend. Later that evening, he called Saini to tell him the roads were slippery and asked him to call him every half-hour to check on him.
Hours passed and Saini hadn’t called, so his cousin decided to call him instead. When Saini didn’t pick up, he called one of Saini’s roommates.
It was past midnight and Saini’s cousin was nearing northwest Alabama. Tears flooded his eyes when he learned that Saini had been struck in the head, but he still didn’t know the severity of it all.
“They said that someone hit him in the head ... and I just couldn’t take that information, so I just came back (to the Atlanta area),” he recounted.
When he arrived at Saini’s apartment, one of the roommates broke the awful news to him.
The cousin described Saini as one of the most compassionate people he’s known. He said that Faulkner, the suspected killer, was a homeless man who Saini and other employees at the gas station had been helping by providing him food and water. Saini even gave Faulkner his own jacket, his cousin said.
“He was very kind. He doesn’t think about himself. He thinks about other person first,” Saini’s cousin said.
Saini hoped to eventually start a business in the U.S. and recruited his cousin for all of the technology-related aspects. The ideas for that particular business hadn’t materialized yet, but his cousin said Saini even managed to recruit his four roommates to eventually help.
Saini’s cousin is now adamant that he will return to India once he finishes his degree in December, explaining that Saini was his anchor and he was only staying here to help with those business endeavors. He said there isn’t much left for him in the U.S. without Saini by his side.
The four former North Alabama students who moved to the Atlanta area with Saini also have plans to return to India, the cousin said, adding that their families have become concerned about their safety.
“Me and his friends were totally dependent on him because he was very ambitious ... We were really like, ‘What he’s going to do, we’re going to do,’” he said.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
They weren’t the only ones deeply impacted by Saini’s death. About 400 family members and friends attended his funeral.
His cousin conveyed that Saini was known for his reliability. He recounted the many times when Saini helped him cover his college fees and even gave a friend enough money to help her buy a car.
“He helped everyone. ... He had money, so he just gave it to his friends, to me too if I needed,” he said. “He never had it in savings, he just gave to everyone.”
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