Manuel Asprilla-Hassan had a close bond with his older brother Roderick Jackson, and the two had recently talked about attending the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in California.
Then everything came to a tragic ending.
Jackson, a gas technician for National Grid, a company the 36-year-old Cambridge resident had worked for since 2021, died on the job Wednesday when suspect Peter Simon crashed into him at a detail site in Waltham.
Simon, 54, of Woodsville, N.H., is also accused of striking and killing Waltham police officer Paul Tracey, who had been working the construction detail on Totten Pond Road.
“He meant everything to me,” Asprilla-Hassan said of his brother while speaking to reporters outside Waltham District Court following Simon’s arraignment on Thursday. “He meant everything to everybody. The city of Cambridge knows who he is. When everybody forgets about him, we will remember.”
Jackson, an alum of Cambridge Rindge And Latin School, played collegiate basketball and football at Framingham State University. He graduated in 2011 with a degree in business administration.
Speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, National Grid worker Joe Garcia described his colleague as a “great father.”
”He had ambition, great ambition,” Garcia said of Jackson. “And this person took it all away from him.”
Garcia highlighted what it’s like being a utility worker and begged for consideration from motorists.
“We’re always in traffic areas,” Garcia said. “You guys see us everyday out there. You guys know what it is. Just slow down, people. Slow down.”
Inside the packed courthouse, other colleagues could be heard talking to Jackson’s family, saying how Jackson could come across as a “big, scary guy,” but at his core, he was “so gentle.”
In a statement, National Grid said Jackson was “a highly-respected, talented and selfless teammate who worked extremely hard, took on extra duties and had built strong friendships with members on his team. He was always willing to lend a hand, roll up his sleeves and help a colleague. His loss is deeply felt throughout the company and he will be sorely missed.”