At Florida State, UConn Stabbing Death Opens Painful Memories

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Herb Gainer's heart sagged.

As Gainer read the details Monday afternoon surrounding the stabbing death of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard, an eerie feeling overcame him. A day doesn't go by that Gainer doesn't think about -- even talk to -- his former friend and Florida State teammate, Pablo Lopez (pictured right).

Lopez was shot to death outside a campus dance in 1986. Gainer rushed to Lopez's side and held his hand as the offensive lineman lay mortally wounded.

There are at least two unidentified Connecticut players who have been so strongly affected by the stabbing death of Howard that they may not play Saturday at West Virginia. One player held Howard in his arms, while another tried to address the wound and was covered in blood.

Gainer can relate to their grief and emotion.

"Pablo's death took a lot out of everybody," Gainer, 44, told FanHouse Monday.

"Many players, myself included, talked about leaving school and it was a conversation many of has had that season. But we got together and decided that we needed to stick it out for Pablo. But I had nightmares about what happened. I'd wake up at all times of the night thinking about him, talking to him. Even today I still talk to him.

"When I read the story about [Howard], it brought back flashbacks."

Howard, from Miami, and Brian Parker, a 19-year-old sophomore wide receiver from Sarasota, Fla., were stabbed outside the UConn Student Union early Sunday morning, after a pulled fire alarm forced an evacuation during a university-sponsored dance. Parker was released from the hospital. Howard died before after being airlifted to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.

The circumstances surrounding Lopez's death had one similarity -- the shooting stemmed from a disturbance after a prankster pulled a fire alarm and emptied the gym.

" I held Pablo's hand and I remember looking at the hole in his midsection -- it didn't seem like a big hole -- and I kept telling him he was going to be alright, he was going to be alright. Just hold on, just hold on."
-Herb Gainer Lopez, 21, a 6-foot-4, 281-pound starting offensive tackle from South Miami, was pronounced dead on arrival at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center following the shooting on Sept. 14 at 1:30 a.m. outside Montgomery Gym.

Gainer and others had re-entered the gym to resume the dance when Lopez was shot in the stomach following an argument. Byron C Johnson, 21, who was not a student at FSU, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Lopez's death.

"I rushed outside and weaved through the crowd and Pablo was on the ground," said Gainer, a sales manager at Tallahassee Champion Chevrolet who also leases a car dealership in St. Petersburg.

"I held Pablo's hand and I remember looking at the hole in his midsection -- it didn't seem like a big hole -- and I kept telling him he was going to be alright, he was going to be alright. Just hold on, just hold on.

"It was just so weird, like it really wasn't happening. We rushed to the hospital, teammates, students, coach [Bobby] Bowden showed.

"When Pablo died, it was ... it was really, really tough on everyone."

UConn head coach Randy Edsall said it was good for his team to return to the practice field Tuesday and "get back to a little bit of normalcy." Of course, there has been nothing normal about the past four days for the Huskies.

Howard's death has shaken the UConn community -- much like Lopez's death did here in Florida's state capitol. Wayne McDuffie, the Seminoles' marine-tough offensive line coach at the time, cried in his office and told a local writer he never had the chance to tell Lopez he loved him.

Gainer said it wasn't until a face-to-face meeting with Lopez's mother later that November when his heart started to mend. The Seminoles had traveled to Lopez's hometown of Miami to play the Hurricanes when Gainer, in the team hotel, was informed he had a visitor

"Somebody came to the room and told me that Pablo's mom wanted to talk to me," Gainer recalled.

"That was the first time I had met with her, and she just looked at me and said she had one question. She wanted to know if Pablo suffered. I told her no, that he was laying on the ground peacefully.

"He was just laying there and wasn't in pain. I was holding his hand, patting his shoulder, telling him to hold on. Her biggest concern was that he didn't suffer."



Another memory that Gainer hasn't forgotten -- Lopez had watched "Miami Vice" with Gainer, and teammates Pat Carter and Gaylon White before heading to the dance. The television show starred actors Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas as two Metro Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami.

Lopez, Gainer and Carter talked about people getting shot and killed.

"And it happened [to Pablo] later that night," Gainer said.

Gainer said the Seminoles rallied around each other following Lopez's death, which occurred during an off week. FSU tied North Carolina 10-10 in its next game and finished the 1986 season 7-4-1, with Gainer leading the team in receptions with 27 for 441 yards and five touchdowns.

In 1987, Gainer's senior season, the Seminoles went 11-1 to start their unprecedented run of 14 consecutive 10-win seasons and top-five finishes.

"We had such a close team, a close group, and everyone relied on each other to get through Pablo's death," said Gainer, who added he also leaned on his faith to soothe remaining anger and frustration.

"Even today, I still remember that night and I find myself talking to Pablo. If I had the chance to talk to the UConn players, I'd tell them to hang in there. It's only temporary, that nothing is forever and that death is the biggest part of life itself. That person never dies -- he will always live, just like Pablo lives with us now.

"I never talk about Pablo in the past. I always think of him and talk to him.

"He's not here, but it's like he never died."