Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25, recently had found a job as a leasing agent for an Orlando apartment complex, said his friend, Jennifer Rodriguez.
"He had finally found something he liked. He was taking care of his mom," she said of Fernandez, who was also her hair stylist and one of her best friends.
"He was like a brother," she said. "He was just really very spirited and always happy, you know?"
Fernandez recently had been dating an older man, a dancer known by the stage name Eman Valentino, who also died in the shooting.