Jonathan: for the love of God! please set this to preapprove comments!
that last thread was terrible!

please Jonathan, be humane.

it is very sad to see those who opposed the building of this hotel trying to take political advantage of this death. shameful.

sometimes humor helps us cope with death, but maybe it shouldn't be posted for a death like this one,and maybe not on a public forum.

“He was a good kid. He always had a good attitude,” Reed said.

RIP, a man like this had family and friends who will grieve hard.

---God grant peace comfort and support for his family and friends.

death comes in a second. we don't get the time to prepare.

if this was a suicide, it was preventable!

condolences to the family , how tragic when a young one passes.

One would think there is a video security system when you have open balconies.

I have an interesting story that I might as well divulge. I live next door to the hotel in an apartment with 11 windows. Two of them face the front of the hotel. The night/morning that this happened, I was awakened by a monstrous crack of thunder around 6:30-7am. I stayed in bed for about 5 minutes after I woke up, and then realizing I had to go to the bathroom, went pee. I looked out my bathroom window at the hotel, and saw nothing unusual. Just as I was finishing up and about to leave the bathroom, I saw an ambulance with its lights on (and sirens off) approaching the hotel. "interesting", I thought. I shrugged my shoulders and returned to bed. I then slept for another 3 hours. While asleep, I had a strange dream that I was in a white van with a heavyset black man. We parked the van at the top of a cliff and I got out. The man looked unconscious. I was a bit worried about him. All of the sudden, his door (passenger side) flung open and he fell out, tumbling down the cliff. I watched as his body was tossed to and fro down the steep cliff, eventually falling to its death. I rushed inside a house nearby and told everyone (including Dr. Dre (dreams can be random)) about the emergency. I then woke up. I walked to class and saw news teams outside of the Oread and still made no connection. As I walked back to my house from class later that day, I recounted my dream to my girlfriend (as we were walking by the Oread). She agreed that a man falling to his death was a strange and seemingly random element to my dream. I still didn't make the connection. Then, finally, when I got home, I saw the news. My hair stood on end! I don't know what to make of this strange phenomena I have experienced. Certainly it says something about the unexplained nature of reality that we are all subject to. It has left me with a few quesitons:

Does anyone know this Brandon Sims? Was he black?
Was the powerful thunder clap I heard in any way related to Brandon's death? What are the chances that I would have a dream (the only time I've ever dreamed this in 26 years) about a man falling to his death around the same time a man fell to his death two buildings down from my apartment (unbeknownst to me at the time)?

kjbraton (anonymous) replies …

if it was suicide no it was not preventable. he showed no signs of being depressed. He went to work everyday, did housework and helped the neighbor move out. He was not the type of kid that would think about killing himself. He was a little homesick and he did miss his mother a lot. He was a Mommas boy and he loved her dearly. I think it was a drunken accident. I do not think it was suicide but we are still awaiting autopsy reports.

---I was just trying to respectfully cover other possibilities.
I also made that comment more for the living in hopes of preventing future suicides.
sadly a few people do suicide with no outwards signs for roommates, friends, family to catch. you are right though, usually there's actions or words.
I'm glad this thread seems to be much better than the last one!

I hope the account of my strange dream did not upset anyone. I thought it was quite peculiar, and posted it out of my own selfish desire to express and reflect upon the sometimes strange nature of reality.

I keep thinking about it, though. Not only was my dream a strange coincidence, but also the titanic thunder that struck right around the time it is presumed that Brandon died. Seeing that he was working with electrical wiring in the hotel, and presumably had access to the higher floors of the building, perhaps his body was hurled off the building by virtue of The Oread getting struck by lighting. There are, after all, 4 huge cell phone towers (the big, smokestack/cigarette looking structures) and a number of flag poles at the top of the roof where Brandon would have been located.

For those mourning, I apologize for my scientific and inquisitive approach to this loss. If the lighting indeed played a role in his death, this might rule out suicide.