MIAMI GARDENS – Shelly Barber said she is in shock. She still can't believe her 23-year-old son, and the two co-workers who took him under their wing are dead.
The three fell to their death when the scaffolding used to reach the top of a 100-story tall transmission tower in Miami Gardens collapsed Wednesday afternoon. Brachton Barber was working for his parents.
"I just want him to be remembered as the wonderful person that he was," his mother said in tears.
Kevin Barber lost a son and two of his employees Marcus Goffena, 31, and Benito Rodriguez, 35. He is the owner of Tower King II, a Cedar Hill, Texas, company that builds and maintains television antennas. They travel around the country.
"He was the youngest one in the crew. Marcus and B.J. took him under his wing," the distraught father said. "That's why I felt good leaving him here. It's just very unfortunate."
The team was working on the tower transmitting signals for WPLG and WSVN when they died. FCC Antenna Tower Registration records show the 1,032-foot tower was built in 2009 and is owned by Miami Tower, LLC.