Osana Futi Remembered by School Official as `Gregarious and Outgoing'

Bay City News — Osana Futi was a Newark Memorial High School football star who was going to graduate in June and planned to attend a community college in the fall, a school official said Monday.

Futi, 18, "was very gregarious and outgoing," said Dave Marken, the superintendent of the Newark Unified School District.

Marken said Futi, who played halfback and linebacker, and the team's quarterback were in his office on Thursday to talk about their plans.

"He only had a month to go to finish high school and then he planned to play football at a community college," Marken said. "This is a tragedy.

Fremont police Sgt. Jeff Campbell said officers were dispatched to a house party near Yellowstone Park and Hyde Park drives at 11:19 p.m. Saturday after receiving multiple reports of shots fired and a possible stabbing.

The officers found Futi lying in the street suffering from stab wounds, Campbell said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police didn't find any evidence of shots fired in the area where Futi was found, Campbell said. It appears that Futi died of stab wounds, but an autopsy was conducted Monday to try to confirm that, he said. 

Futi had some anger management issues as a result of the stabbing death of his close friend and football teammate, 17, in Newark on Dec. 15, 2010, and was expelled from school, Marken said.

But he said Futi dealt with those issues, was reinstated in school and "was taking care of business" and was set to graduate with his classmates on June 9.

School officials said Futi was named the Mission Valley Athletic League's defensive player of the year in 2011.

Carroll said Newark investigators will meet with Fremont investigators to try to figure out if there's any connection between the deaths of Afoa and Futi.

Marken said Futi was born in Samoa and came to Newark six years ago and attended both Newark junior high and high school.

He said Futi's biological mother is still in Samoa but Futi lived with a surrogate mother and other relatives in the Newark area.

Marken said Newark's school district is a close-knit community because it only includes one junior high and one high school so Futi's death strikes home hard.

"There are family traditions and friendships that are very deep and long-lasting," Marken said.