Malik Pittman was the ideal loving uncle.
At 19 and freshly out of high school, the math and computer whiz tutored his niece over Facetime, according to his sister Cydni Howard, 33.
Pittman and his niece shared a love for anime and could spend hours talking about it. My brother was my daughter s best friend, Howard said.
Howard spoke with her brother every day. She often teased him about being his mom because she d helped him finish school.
On Dec. 31, a day after he d gone missing, Howard learned the worst. Her brother was found shot to death in a city she d never heard of Salinas.