REST IN PEACE

Busboy Who Tried to Help Wounded Robert F. Kennedy Dies

Juan Romero was reportedly “haunted” by the memory of the senator’s assassination.

When Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, a young busboy, Juan Romero, squatted beside him and cradled the senator’s head, doing what he could to help the gravely wounded senator who would eventually succumb to his injuries. Romero passed away on Monday, according to longtime friend and TV newsman Rigo Chacon, of San Jose. In the years following Kennedy’s assassination, Romero left Los Angeles and moved to Wyoming, trying to escape the memory of the violence that occurred that night. He later returned to California and settled in San Jose, where he raised a family and devoted himself to construction work. According to The Los Angeles Times, Romero had begun to let go of the pain in recent years and seemed “revived” as of late. But Chacon said the 68-year-old “had a heart attack several days ago and his brain went too long without oxygen.” A niece and a brother confirmed Romero’s death, but family members were unavailable for comment.