JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 36-year-old motorcyclist killed in a crash Friday night in Arlington was a photographer who loved riding, capturing the world through his images and music, his brother, who was riding alongside him at the time of the wreck, said Monday.
Torrence Hart Berrios, of Jacksonville, died about 6 p.m. when he crashed into a car that was making a left turn across traffic on Merrill Road, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Berrios' brother, Lorenzo Young, along with two of Berrios' sons, spoke with News4Jax Monday. Young said he and his brother had just left a red light and couldn't have even hit 40 mph, and within seconds, his brother was gone.
"He was the best brother, uncle to my children, the best uncle that anyone would ever ask for," Young said. "The whole thing is unfortunate, but I feel a little solace in the fact that he was doing ... what he loved to do."
Berrios was the youngest of four, but he had a magnetic bond with Young -- a bond that took the two brothers from sharing chocolates on Easter Sunday to falling in love with the wide open road.
"One way that we relieve stress is to ride our bikes," Young said. "It's what he loved to do. It's what I love to do."
So after learning early Friday evening that Young's grandmother had passed, the pair began a therapeutic ride -- not knowing what would happen next.
"I looked over and I saw his bike hit the car and explode like a bomb. And I was afraid he was still on the bike, burning," Young said. "I slammed on my brakes. I drop my bike. And I turned and I saw him flying through the air."
Police said a car was heading west on Merrill Road about 6 p.m. and attempting to turn left on Arlex Drive East when it was hit by Berrios's eastbound motorcycle. Berrios was thrown from the bike, hit a utility pole and died, police said. The motorcycle caught fire.
The driver of the car, who has not been named, remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, according to police.
"There was no light at all. But there was a turn and there's a turn lane in the middle that you merge into the turning lane and stop and wait for oncoming traffic. She didn't even get in the turning lane. There was no blinker," Young said. "All she had to do was stop and wait as she was supposed to. We had the right of way. She turned. Those couple of minutes stopping could have given us a lifetime with him."
He said his brother didn't even see the car coming.
"I wouldn't want to see anyone go to prison forever, but I think there should be some repercussions. There has to be some repercussions," said Young, who also said he probably will never be able to forgive the driver.
Though Young feels like his brother deserves justice, he's trying to focus on remembering the jokester whom his entire family loved. Family members called him "Torrie," the man who loved riding, loved his dog Flex and loved capturing the world with his camera.
SLIDESHOW: Photos taken by Torrence Berrios
"He would take pictures of everything with his drone. If it was a falcon in the tree that he saw, he'd zoom in and touch the picture up. And (he) just saw beauty in everything. He wanted everybody to love each other," Young said. "Every time I think of him, I'm going to think of passing the message that I think he would want me to pass on, and that's to hug, kiss, to love, to let your loved ones know that you love them because you don't when they're going to be gone."
Young said he took those things for granted.
"I didn't hug my brother before we left," he said. "I didn't hug him enough. I didn't tell him I loved him enough."
The wake for Berrios will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Lampkins Patterson Funeral Home on Arlington Expressway.