"I was just talking to him," said his friend Michael Hernandez. "I just said, 'later. See you tomorrow.' And it just seems like a dream, you know."
Hernandez was the last person to see Corral alive. The 16-year-old lived just around the corner from Hernandez, but gunmen killed him on the street in front of his home.
Hernandez says he'll try his best to play the role of son for his friend's mother, replacing her only child. "She's like a mom to me, you know," he said. "I'm her only son left."
Surrounded by dozens of her son's friends at the scene of his murder, Corral's mother shared her grief and her emotional advice for all parents. "Tell them you love them every day," she said.
Her family is struggling to come to grips with their loss.
"Right now, I think we're all in shock and we don't know really how to react," said Corral's Uncle Joe Rodriguez. "We're angry and then we're so sad."
Police told the family the suspects were on a crime spree that ended in Marcus' murder. Within 25 hours, Visalia Police arrested 20-year-old Gabriel Salas, 18-year-old Francisco Plascencia, Jr. and a 14-year-old girl.
That's some consolation for Corral's family. Even better is knowing some of the people helping make the tribute so large are responsible for putting those suspects in jail.
"It was a lot of the kids that called in and gave information about what they knew," said Rodriguez. "That's how [the police] were able to find them."
Corral's family has not been able to make funeral arrangements. The coroner's office hasn't released his body yet because it's a murder investigation. As soon as that happens, the family hopes to make their plans.
