Friends and family of a 21-year-old man killed Friday night as he tried to help a woman who was being assaulted remembered him Sunday as a kind, gregarious man who was always eager to help others.

"Mo died being a hero, the hero that we knew he was," Richard Martinez said of his friend, Victoriano Moises Byrne Gonzales, an aspiring artist and preschool teacher. The two had been classmates at Santa Fe High School. Byrne Gonzales graduated in 2008.

Byrne Gonzales was fatally stabbed in the throat Friday night at the Butterfly Springs Mobile Home Park in Pojoaque as he tried to help a woman he saw in trouble, Santa Fe County sheriff's investigators said. A friend, Santiago Cordova, was stabbed in the back as he also tried to help the woman, but he was able to attend the memorial at the foot of the Cross of the Martyrs in downtown Santa Fe.

Investigators said Byrne Gonzales collapsed after warning others to run, and he died at the scene outside the home of his older sister, Amelia, and brother-in-law Chris Chavez.

The suspect, Adrian L. Gonzales, 30, of Dixon, was captured near Albuquerque on southbound Interstate 25 about 3 a.m. Saturday. Adrian Gonzales, no relation to Victoriano Byrne Gonzales, was booked into the Santa Fe County jail on an open count of murder and one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Authorities said law-enforcement officers from Santa Fe, Bernalillo and Sandoval counties as well as the Albuquerque Police Department were involved in Adrian Gonzales' arrest near mile marker 231.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia, whose department is handling the investigation, could not be reached for comment Sunday evening.

About 100 friends and family members bundled up against the cold and wind to "rejoice in Moise's life," his mother, Barbara Byrne of Chimayó, told the mourners, some of whom placed flowers and remembrances on a makeshift altar next to pictures of Victoriano Byrne Gonzales.

His father, Victor Gonzales of the Pojoaque-Nambé area, comforted his son's nephew, Javon, 6, as the grieving friends and relatives offered their condolences.

"He was loved," the father said, adding that his son's final actions reflected how he lived his life. "That's how I brought him up."

Victoriano Byrne Gonzales' parents have been divorced for about 13 years. He had been living with his father, his mother said.

The younger Gonzales was to begin his new position Monday as assistant director at the Playschool of the Arts, 2076 Galisteo St., where he taught young children. His fiancée is due to give birth to his son this week.

"We were all so blessed he came to us," said Jackie Quintana, whose son, Patrick, attends Playschool of the Arts.

Joline Alley, a fellow teacher, said the children loved Byrne Gonzales. "His favorite thing to do was to just lie down on the ground and let the kids jump all over him."

Chavez, Byrne Gonzales' brother-in-law, said he performed CPR on the dying Byrne Gonzales, but to no avail. The incident occurred Friday evening while Gonzales was working on a car at Chavez's home.

"That was the hardest part," Chavez said. "I tried to bring him back, but I couldn't. No matter what I did, I couldn't."

Chavez said his brother-in-law had tried to help the woman whom the man later identified as Adrian L. Gonzales was assaulting. "The dude was pounding on that girl."

Funeral arrangements are pending the release of Victoriano Byrne Gonzales' body by the state Office of the Medical Investigator.