VISTA — The Vista community is mourning the death of 19-year-old Christopher Hendrickson, a MiraCosta College student and beloved Chick-fil-A employee who was killed in a collision on May 9 while riding his motorcycle.
That day, Christopher had just gotten a motorcycle endorsement on his license and was riding back from the DMV when he fatally collided with a vehicle pulling out of a shopping center parking lot along Hacienda Drive around 1 p.m.
He would have celebrated his twentieth birthday the next day. A large memorial now stands outside that parking lot, with dozens of bouquets, pictures, notes and snacks left in Christopher’s memory.
Christopher’s older brother Noah, 24, said his younger brother could be described with one word: positivity. He was funny and caring, a proud momma’s boy, and helped the people in his life who found themselves in a dark place.
“He was just the overall light of any room he was in,” Noah said. “He was the embodiment of positivity.”
Christopher graduated from Guajome Park Academy in 2022 and was taking computer science classes at MiraCosta. He loved his two cats and was passionate about exotic cars and riding motorcycles — although they made his mom nervous — and enjoyed going to car meets with his friends.

A GoFundMe for Christopher’s family and funeral expenses has raised over $42,000 as of Sunday. It was organized by Luis Gomez, Christopher’s boss at the Chick-Fil-A location along Vista Village Drive, where he worked for the past two years.
The restaurant location also held a Cookies for Chris event this past week, selling six packs of cookies to raise money for his family.
“Chris is loved by many and is one of the greatest young men you’d ever have the pleasure to meet. He was a respectful, hard-working, servant-minded gentlemen [sic]. He will be missed by everyone he has interacted with, including the 100’s of friends, Chick-fil-A Team Members and 1000s of guests,” Gomez wrote.
Michelle Maier, Christopher’s mother, said she and her son were very close and he “could always make you laugh.”
Feeling all the love that people had for Christopher through their support has helped her as she navigates his loss.
“The whole community has just been rallying behind this kid,” Michelle said. “It’s like he made sure I was going to be okay after he left. Even though he’s not here, he’s still taking care of me, per se.”
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to investigate the collision. After obtaining dash cam footage from a nearby vehicle at the scene, Sgt. Eric Cottrell said the motorcycle appeared to be traveling at an excessive speed when it struck the rear driver-side door of the car that was pulling out.
Along with Noah and Michelle, Christopher is survived by his older sister Krysten and father Chris.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to correct Michelle Maier’s last name.