Janitor Killed at Dickies Arena, Crushed by Mechanical Gate

A janitor at Fort Worth's new Dickies Arena was killed Saturday when a mechanical gate closed and crushed him.

Juan Carlos Julian Jr., 24, died by traumatic asphyxia due to entrapment in an electric gate, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

"If you were sitting down for the holidays, he would just get up and start dancing," remembered his brother, Christian Julian. "He was the best brother. And nobody is going to give him back."

Julian was employed by a contractor for the arena, Service First Janitorial.

His mother said he was saving money to visit his girlfriend in Mexico for the holidays.

"He was very happy, very loving," his mother said in Spanish. "He took good care of me."

Dickies Arena is owned by the city of Fort Worth, but managed by a nonprofit company, Trail Drive Management Corp.

Trail Drive issued a statement expressing condolences to the victim's family and said they were cooperating with the investigation.

But managers declined to answer questions about whether the gate has a safety mechanism or was malfunctioning at the time.

His family said nobody has given them any details.

"Why can't they just come out and tell us what happened?" Christian Julian said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an open investigation into the death.