By Mary O’KEEFE

On July 29, 2025 Brandon Duplessis, 23, went for a walk. It was reported that Brandon, an artist and musician, went on walks when he couldn’t sleep. But on this day at about 5 a.m. at the intersection of Colorado Street and Broadway in Eagle Rock Brandon was killed after being hit by a car. The driver who struck and killed Brandon kept driving. 

“Brandon lived nearby with me in Eagle Rock, less than half a mile from where the incident occurred,” said his mother Misty. “Walking had always been part of who he was. It was his solitude, his thinking time; often at that time he would experience and process life. Brandon loved walking.”

She spoke about how, when he was younger, Brandon loved walking around the track at Crescenta Valley High School and around the neighborhood. 

“The furthest he had walked was from North Hollywood to Eagle Rock. He had wanted to walk to Santa Monica from Eagle Rock. During his walks he would take the time to partake in things that interested him, such as learning new languages, discovering new songs, writing songs [and] connecting with friends from different parts of the world. After his passing we found a document on his computer titled ‘General Subjects I Would Definitely Like to Learn About,’ listing dozens of topics ranging from religion, foreign languages and nutrition to psychology, history, law, aviation and medicine. That was Brandon — curious, self-directed and always learning,” she said. 

Brandon had lost his identification earlier and had just ordered a new ID; however, because he was comfortable walking in his neighborhood Misty said he didn’t feel he had to have his ID with him.

Misty is not certain the exact conversation she had with co-workers, but they were talking about a fatality at the intersection of Colorado Street and Broadway in Eagle Rock earlier in the day. 

At 8:30 p.m. on July 29 as she was getting off work – she worked long days – she realized she had left numerous messages for Brandon. He lived with his mother and they had just moved into a two-bedroom apartment. In fact, he had yet to sign the paperwork for the new unit. 

“I had been so preoccupied with the move and work; I had sent him about 30 messages throughout the day and then I realized he hadn’t responded since the night before. This was not like him. I knocked on his bedroom door and his girlfriend had stayed over and said she hadn’t seen him, but provided me his phone location,” she said. 

She drove to the location the phone provided, which was in Glassell Park. On the way she called Brandon’s dad who said he had not heard from him that day either. 

She called 9-1-1. 

“I reported him missing with 9-1-1 when I didn’t see him at the location his girlfriend provided. Brandon was predictable, cautious and not the kind of person to disappear or be in places that were unfamiliar. His phone was tracking in Glassell Park where he wasn’t known to walk,” she said. “While in Glassell Park the [Los Angeles] police met me where the phone was tracking and shortly after searching the area a phone rang in a shopping cart of a man who was sleeping on some stairs. The police asked if they could answer it. I could hear the voice of one of Brandon’s friends on the other line. At that point Brandon’s dad, David, was on speaker [on her phone]. One officer questioned the man who had [Brandon’s] phone while another officer was talking about checking local hospitals. David later told me that when he overheard the phone was found at an Eagle Rock bus stop and he learned about the traffic fatality he started driving down from where he was living in Oregon.”

The officers asked if they could search Misty and Brandon’s apartment. They met there around 10:30 p.m. and she was able to get surveillance footage of Brandon walking around the building. She showed the officers the footage so they would know what her son was wearing that morning. 

After looking at the footage of Brandon one of the officers walked away with Misty’s phone. When he returned her world came crashing down.

“I can’t describe what I felt,” she said. “David said he [can’t] forget the sound of my reaction on the other end of the phone.”

David had been in contact with family members and they all started arriving at Misty’s house after it was confirmed the fatality that happened earlier in the day had been their son. 

“This first day it happened we received an outpouring [of support] from various agencies offering grief resources and victim support but sadly, when we reached out with questions, we found that there were few answers,” she said.

The driver who struck and killed Brandon and then drove away turned himself into the LAPD on July 29 at 12:30 p.m. He was booked, at that time, on felony hit-and-run. 

Next week CVW will continue with how the family tried to move forward, attended the trial of the driver and how they continue to struggle for information.