Kennewick 25-year-old was trying to find his way in life before he died in a police car
Reno Casanova was a man who was trying to find his footing, said his family members.
The 25-year-old man had moved from Illinois to be with family in the Tri-Cities in the summer of 2018, with plans to start a new chapter in his life. While a bad choice may have cost him his life, he was a good kid who was loved, said his uncle Domingo Madrigal.
“He was not sure what direction he wanted to go in,” Madrigal said. “He was trying to set up roots. Unfortunately things happen.”
Casanova died Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of a Starbucks at 27th Avenue in Kennewick. The Kennewick man was seen using drugs, and officers took him into custody while they investigated, and he lost consciousness.
Officers attempted to revive him with the overdose reversal drug Narcan and CPR, as they called for an ambulance. But medics couldn’t revive him and he died at the scene.
The cause of his death is still under investigation.
The regional Special Investigations Unit has been asked to review the death since he was in police custody. SIU detectives from other agencies in Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties are conducting the investigation.
An outpouring of love for Casanova has come from Illinois and Texas as family members in both states, who are also trying to bring him home. Between Facebook and GoFundMe fundraisers, more than $6,000 had been raised Friday.
“Reno was a wonderful young man. He definitely left this world too soon,” a friend from Illinois said on Facebook. “RIP! Prayers for the family and all his friends.”
Casanova divided his time between his mother in Fairfield, Ill., and his father’s family in Texas. He graduated from high school in Illinois.
Madrigal and Casanova’s aunt, Martina Casanova, said he would always show up for homemade Mexican food whenever he came to visit.
“He would always eat the beans because he never had it at home,” Madrigal said. “We would open the fridge and they would be gone because he took them all.”
While in the Tri-Cities, he worked in a variety of factory and retail jobs and had started to develop an interest in videography.
“When we last saw him he was talking about that,” Madrigal said. “He was loved.”