A friend of Jason Aguilar, a sophomore accounting major and track athlete who died Saturday night, started a GoFundMe to raise money to assist with expenses related to his death.

As of 12:21 p.m. Monday, the fundraiser has raised $6,570 of its $7,500 goal with 170 donors contributing to the fundraiser.

The friend who started the fundraiser, Jason Teneyuque, said Aguilar “lost his battle with depression,” in the information for the fundraiser.

Teneyuque said, “Jason was my brother and his family was my family. Experiencing this loss drives me to try to make this trying time as easy as it can be for his family and those affected that were close to him.”

Comments shared why they were donating to the cause:

“Jason was our son as well,” Alex Teneyuque, a donor, said. “Me and Rosa loved him like our own and that will always remain the same.”

“Family comes first blood or not,” Mark Sanchez, a donor, said.

Aguilar died Saturday night at 8:14 p.m. Coles County Coroner Ed Schniers said an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at deneic@gmail.com.