Shooting victim is identified as 34-year-old Ben Terra
Benjamin Terra was a local commercial fisherman, surfer, and environmental activist. Photos from Facebook.
–Thirty-four-year-old Benjamin Terra was found dead in rural Paso Robles on Saturday. Terra’s body was found inside a home on the 4200 block of Old Nacimiento Road after a nine-hour standoff with San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Detail with 61-year-old Nicole Luxor of Paso Robles, who was then arrested for allegedly murdering Terra.
Terra was a local commercial fisherman, surfer, and environmental activist. Word of his death, caused by a fatal gunshot wound, has left friends at a loss.
“While traveling through Central America a long time ago this nice young man had the patience to befriend a stranger and get me through borders and language barriers,” said friend Taylor Giberson of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. “If that’s what he’s willing to do for a stranger, I can only imagine how good of a friend and family member he must have been.”
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the rural location after receiving a call about a possible deceased body being at the location. According to the sheriff’s department, Luxor allegedly barricaded herself into the resident and fired at the deputies during the standoff though no one was injured.
She was arrested for one count of murder and 36 counts of attempted murder, according to the sheriff’s report. Her bail is set at $1 million.
Terra graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2006. He grew up in Morro Bay. In addition to being a fisherman and environmentalist, he was also a musician. His Facebook name, “Beenjamin,” is a play on words for “been jammin’.” Friend Chris Beaupre said that he was also a surfer and opened up his home to Couchsurfers, a website that connects travelers with couch — or beds — to sleep on around the world.
“Ben was one of the best guys I know, and in my busy life he was my best friend although I’m not sure if he knew that, he had tons of friends,” said Chris Beaupre. “He would visit my house once or twice a week. He would always take the time to have mini conversations with my 4-year-old, Kira, ‘which princess are you today?'”
Beaupre said that the Tuesday before he was killed, Terra visited him and they talked about Terra’s upcoming travel plans, women and government.
“Ben was an environmentalist and a conservationist,” Beaupre said. “I remember when they were going to do seismic testing off of the Central Coast he was very adamant about protesting to stop it. I wasn’t even aware of what it meant at the time and he showed me a chart of all the marine life it would destroy. He was very smart, sometimes I would pretend to understand some of the things he would tell me only because he used words that weren’t part of my vocabulary. … Oh man his smile was so genuine and warm. It’s really hard to put Ben’s awesomeness to words, he genuinely cared about people, animals, and our planet and the preservation of it for our future generations.”
Friends took to Terra’s Facebook page to post their sadness over this loss of life. There people who have known him for years, as well as people he hadn’t known long, posted remembrances of him. Many told stories of meeting him in places such as Nicaragua, and Big Sur. “Love you bro, you will be missed by all!” posted Michael Lopaka Jones. “Sweet Ben…you will be greatly missed,” wrote Christine Davis Corsiglia.
Terra was a regular of Linnaea’s Cafe in San Luis Obispo, Jeremy Fama, a former employee of the cafe, said that he was shocked to the point of tears to hear the news of his death. Fama described Terra as, “being a part of the community.” Fama said that the two would chat about music, and that Terra called himself, “BenJamin” as in he has, “been jammin.”
A memorial service will be held for Terra on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. at Rock Harbor Christian Fellowship, 1475 Quintana Road in Morro Bay. A celebration for Terra will follow at the Morro Bay Vets Hall, 209 Surf St.
