Mourners visited a North Hollywood tattoo business where a beloved body piercer and tattoo shop owner known as Trigz was shot and killed Thursday night.
Candles and other items were left in front of the shop near Laurel Canyon and Victory boulevards, where a gunman opened fire Thursday at about 5:30 p.m. The victim, identified by the coroner's officer Friday morning as Michael Christopher Pebley, 40, of Tujunga, was a father and engaged to be married, mourners told NBC4.
"It hurts," said Jamone McKinney. "He was a good guy."
Trigz described himself in his Model Mayhem profile as body piercer and tattoo shop owner who is "tattooed from head to toe." He grew up in Los Angeles and worked on several photography and music video projects with the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Mobb Deep and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, according to the profile.
His first tattoo more than 20 years ago was his mother's name, Trigz said in a 2012 interview for LA-based Urban Melody Television & Production.
Details regarding a fight that witnesses reported before the shooting were not immediately available. The fight began inside the tattoo shop, then spilled outside where the shooting occurred, according to investigators.
Some of the visitors remembered speaking with Trigz a few weeks ago at the Sin City Tattoo shop he owned in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima. They described him as a thoughtful and intelligent man who looked tough, but enjoyed spending time with his fiancee and daughter.
"He was a really good guy," said Desirae Howell, who visited the site of the slaying. "He was a family guy. He was very intelligent."
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Several messages expressing sorrow were left on the Trigz Bodypiercing Facebook page, including one describing him as a "happy, goofy guy." Mourners also left candles outside the Sin City shop, scheduled to open at noon.
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No arrests were reported Friday morning.
NBC4's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report.
