A De Perdue’s first name means royalty in the Nigerian language of Yoruba. Since he was an infant, the family had called him Prince Ade ( pronounced AH-dee), a fitting nickname for someone so well loved.
The 22-year-old Oceanside man, known for his vibrant personality and legion of friends, died earlier this month under mysterious circumstances. Authorities have labeled the case a homicide but have provided few details about what happened; a man briefly arrested in connection with the killing has since been released.
Perdue was found not breathing in a home on South Horne Street near Michigan Avenue about 6 a.m. on Dec. 11, police said. Paramedics tried to revive him but he was declared dead.
Although there were no visible signs of traumatic injury, detectives determined Perdue was a victim of foul play based on the totality of the circumstances and after speaking to witnesses, authorities said.
Officers later arrested 24-year-old Pablo Mendoza, and booked him into jail on suspicion of murder. He was released a few days later without charges filed, and could not be reached for comment this week.An Oceanside Police Department said detectives are declining to release any new information on the case, and that the investigation is continuing.
Perdue’s family wants answers, even if they’re unlikely to ease their heartbreak.
“He was so full of life,” his sister-in-law, Ilene Miller Perdue, said earlier this week. “Why him?”
She said the family is grateful for the outpouring of support from Perdue’s friends and co-workers at Masters Kitchen and Cocktail in Oceanside, where the young man was a bartender.
“It’s been therapy for me,” said Perdue’s mother, Jewel Perry, who moved to South Carolina a few years ago and is now back in town for her son’s memorial. “You would think he was a celebrity. He was so young to know so many people.”
So many have reached out with condolences that the family had to move the service planned for Friday to a larger church. It is now set for 5 p.m. at Vista Assembly Church, 290 Melrose Drive, the family said.
Ade Perdue was an Oceanside native, born at Tri-City Medical Center. He graduated from Oceanside High in 2013. The family is very close, his mother said, with plenty of inside jokes and boisterous laughter. Even in that context, the boy’s laugh stood out — it was “so infectious, oh my gosh,” his sister-in-law said.
Perry said she and her son spoke at least a few times a week — he’d call as he rode his skateboard to work — and texted even more. In one recent message, the young man called his mother “queen.”
On Thanksgiving, a few weeks before he died, Perdue sent his mother a short text: “Thank you for giving me my life.”
When Perdue’s father called with news of their son’s death, Perry immediately headed to the airport for the first flight out, taking nothing more than the clothes on her back.
On Monday, she sat with her daughter-in-law and two of Ade’s brothers — Richard Perdue, 36, and Steven Blackman, 27. The mother smiled as she scrolled through her phone, pointing out photos she’d periodically taken of old family pictures – some were of the three brothers together, Ade beaming and bright at 4, 5 or 6 years old. Her friends, she said, called him “an old soul.”
Richard Perdue said his brother was a hard worker, and had worked his way up from a busboy to server to bartender. He dreamed of owning his own watering hole.
Perry last saw her son in October when she visited to celebrate his 22nd birthday. She stayed for eight days in a timeshare near the water, so she could have her family over and cook for them.
She smiled as she showed images from that visit, including videos of her son tending bar at Masters. In one, he glided by her as she sat at the bar, then offered up a quick “Hello world” to her camera as he bounced between customers.
Perry had no idea how precious those moments would be.
“It was meant for me to have those eight days,” she said this week.
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