Jay Mohan lived to tell stories through film.
The 26-year-old Philly filmmaker created movies and helped others showcase theirs. He worked at film festivals and offered budding artists access to the airways through his job at PhillyCam, the city's public media station.
And hours before a collision between a car and his bicycle claimed his life early Sunday, he was sitting in a Society Hill theater watching an independent film: "While We're Young."
"He was a really amazing person. Really into film and art and music. He had a lot of plans for himself," said Maori Karmael Holmes, his girlfriend. The two had been seriously dating for the past year.
Mohan had ridden his bike to the theater, and Holmes didn't ride, so she jumped in a cab and they parted ways for the night. She to her place as he made his way toward his Brewerytown home. Nearly there, at the intersection of Ridge and Girard Avenues, he was hit by a Buick driving west on Girard.
The impact left Mohan with serious head trauma and multiple fractures, Philadelphia Police said. It doesn't appear he was wearing a helmet. Paramedics rushed him to Hahnemann University Hospital where he died nearly three hours later.
A Chicago, Illinois native, Mohan came to Philadelphia by way of Temple University, where he earned a degree in Film and Media Arts. Mohan's mother and sister live in India. Homes, who runs the BlackStar Film Festival that showcases films about the black experience, said he wanted to make feature films and was "always writing" in his spare time.
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Friends shocked by Mohan's death described him as humble, generous and bold.
"He was just a sweet, kind person. He took care of a lot of people," Holmes told NBC10. "It’s an incredible loss, especially someone so young."
The crash remains under investigation.
