A Mindoreño has been declared brain dead following an assault Monday by a jealous 22-year-old man in the US Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, a news report said.

Larry Gonzales has been on life support since the suspect, identified as Shane Hocog, punched and repeatedly kicked him, said the Saipan Tribune.

Gonzales, who is jobless, was talking to his teenage girlfriend in front of Kagman High School in Saipan when he was allegedly attacked by Hocog, the report said.

The suspect, said to be a former boyfriend of the teenage girl, hit Gonzales hard causing the victim to fall with his head hitting the pavement. Hocog then allegedly kicked him repeatedly and fled.

Gonzales suffered massive internal head injuries and on life support at the intensive care unit of the Commonwealth Health Center, his attending physician said.

As of Thursday, the Saipan Tribune said authorities had yet to find the suspect.

Gonzales, single, used to work as delivery man at the defunct Aqualite Water Company in Saipan. He is a native of Mindoro.

Miriam Buatis, one of Gonzales’ friends, told Saipan Tribune on Thursday that when she visited the victim at the health center she learned that his condition has worsened.

Buatis said she had talked on the phone with the victim’s family in Mindoro, who expressed their wish to see Gonzales while still on life support.

A police officer said airlines do not transport passengers on life support.

Buatis and the United Filipino Organization president Olive Yana are asking for financial donations to repatriate Gonzales. Buatis can be contacted at 287-0227 and 235-1225, while Yana can be reached at 285-7893 or at 234-6529.

Saipan is the largest island of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean.