Mourning victims of July 4 OC stabbing: 'The saddest part is losing a great friend'

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The unprovoked deadly attack on a group celebrating the Fourth of July in Huntington Beach has rocked the community.

Adam Cook lives near 16th Street and Pecan Avenue where the holiday festivities were taking place.

He said he was inside his home when a man walked up and started stabbing people.

His best friend and neighbor, Eric Hodges, was one of two people killed.

"The saddest part is losing a great friend and somebody who brought so much joy and happiness into people's lives," Cook said.

He described the 42-year-old as someone who lived life to the fullest.

"Eric is just one of those people that he just has this magnetic personality," Cook said. "I can't think of a single person that doesn't like him."

Cook moved in next door to Hodges several years ago and over time the two became best friends.

He said, "His window looks directly into my backyard so I would literally see him and his fiancé Jourdan every day. We would constantly talk through the window."

Last year they celebrated Fourth of July together and this year they did the same.

In a release, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said just after 11 p.m. 26-year-old Logan Christopher Kelley approached the group and started stabbing people at random.

Cook said he had gone into his home when the attack began.

"I came back and it was just complete mayhem," Cook said. "I couldn't believe it so I kept running around trying to find him but everything was taped off."

Hodges was stabbed in the heart.

Also, 47-year-old William Collins were stabbed in the lung and neck.

He died from his wounds.

Prosecutors says three other people were also injured.

A week after this tragedy a memorial is growing on the corner where everything unfolded.

Cook said all they can do is try to move forward and honor Hodges the best way they can.

"I don't know how you recover from this. There's no magic words to make anything better. There's nothing that anybody can say or do that that's going to bring him back. You can't rewind the clock," Cook said.

A GoFundMe page to celebrate and remember Eric Hodges has been set up.

Kelley is charged with two felony counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders, three counts of attempted murder, one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, and one misdemeanor count of battery on a police officer.

If convicted he is eligible for the death penalty.