WEST PALM BEACH — At about 1 a.m. Monday, Connor Blais texted his partner to say he was heading home after his bartending shift at O’Shea’s Irish Pub on Clematis Street. But Lawrence Cassenti said he never felt the usual rub on the knee that Connor gave him to let him know he made it back safe.
At 4 a.m., Cassenti said he woke up startled, realizing Blais never made it home. He checked his phone and saw Blais’ location placed him 2 miles from their Lake Worth Beach home.
Cassenti rushed there but felt his stomach turn when he saw patrol cars had swarmed the area. Police officers told him Connor had died after a vehicle had struck him as he rode his scooter — and then fled without stopping.
“I feel dead inside. I feel like I can’t move,” said Cassenti, who began dating Blais in 2025. “I am completely devastated.”
Police found Blais, 28, on the 4900 block of South Olive Avenue, near East Lakewood Road, at about 1:50 a.m., his electric scooter on the ground nearby. Police said the driver who hit him left the scene without either stopping to help Blais or report the crash.
Detectives are asking residents along South Olive Avenue, between Russlyn Drive and Pilgrim Road, to review their security-camera recordings from 1:20 a.m. to 1:50 a.m. in hopes of identifying the driver. Investigators believe the vehicle that hit him sustained damage either on its front end or passenger side.
Anyone with information should contact Detective Mark Hatfield at the West Palm Beach Police Department at 561-822-1784. Tipsters who want to stay anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip through the Crime Stoppers website.
O’Shea’s bartender Connor Blais known for smile, confidence
News of Blais’ death prompted an outpouring of grief, both in comments online and from friends, coworkers and patrons at O’Shea’s, a fixture in downtown West Palm Beach since 1994.
On July 7, a shrine for Blais set up on the tables at the pub’s entrance was adorned with flowers, glitter and a collection jar for his burial. Almost 4 miles away, bouquets of yellow roses and sunflowers rested at the base of a small tree alongside the roadway where Blais died.
Inside O’Shea’s, servers and bartenders took orders and poured drinks with tears dampening their faces as lunchtime patrons cheered on the Argentina-Egypt World Cup match.
Blais’ coworkers and regular customers described him as charismatic and quick with a joke. His favorite drink was a side quest: fetching a Malibu bucket from Lucky’s Bar down the block.
Jake Stanton, O’Shea’s manager, said Blais had earned a reputation for being “a happy face behind the bar” in his two years of working there. For example, he didn’t follow soccer but never missed an opportunity to cheer alongside customers anytime a team scored during World Cup watch parties.
“Connor always had a smile on his face,” Stanton said at the pub on July 7. “He always came in happy.”
Stanton said he was driving to O’Shea’s on July 6 when a server informed him of Blais’ death. He said the text left him in disbelief.
He was supposed to see Blais within an hour to prepare for the patrons coming to watch that day’s World Cup matches. They were the same age and had worked together countless Saturday nights behind the bar.
Stanton watched his employees walk in shaken, most of them in tears by the time they reached the bar. Then he saw customers who knew Conor enter with flowers and candles to share their condolences.
“I walked in and there’s just nothing but white noise,” Stanton said. “It’s like missing that final piece to the jigsaw puzzle, and when you’re looking for that piece and it’s not there, it just doesn’t feel right.”
Blais’ death also felt like reliving a nightmare, Stanton said. Two years ago, O’Shea’s mourned the death of Dominic Brown, a doorman who died in a crash on West Indiantown Road in Jupiter Farms.
“It’s tough to comprehend life can be taken away that quickly,” Stanton said.
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Born in 1998, Blais was a Florida native who grew up in Lehigh Acres near Fort Myers.
His proudest childhood accomplishment was becoming an Eagle Scout, which fueled his love for camping and traveling, Cassenti said. Blais spent most of his early 20s exploring Florida, the U.S and Europe.
Cassenti said he met Blais in 2025 at the Mad Hatter Lounge in Lake Worth Beach. Blais knew Cassenti had worked in the hospitality industry and approached him at the bar looking for a job.
Cassenti said he didn’t have a job to offer, but Blais’ boldness and charming smile impressed him.
“There were so many people trying to send me resumes and text me, but this guy wanted to come face to face,” Cassenti said. “Yeah, he actually showed up.”
Cassenti said Blais was “a bright light,” who loved glitter, the Disney animated film “Lilo and Stitch” and trains.
The couple went on a couple of dates before they started planning trips together. In April, they celebrated their relationship with a trip to Transylvania, after Blais convinced Cassenti to fulfill his dream of visiting Dracula’s castle.
During the trip, the couple also traveled by train from Romania to Vienna and toured Munich, Cassenti said. They got matching tattoos of a bat and wolf, representing Dracula and Wolf-man.
“He planned that entire trip, and it was unbelievable,” Cassenti said. “This was like a 10-year relationship in a year. It was total magic.”
When the couple got back home, they decided to move in together. On the day he died, Blais hadn’t even finished unpacking his belongings at Cassenti’s Lake Worth Beach home.
Cassenti said the couple had an upcoming July 19 trip planned to St. Louis for Blais to see the “Big Boy,” the world’s largest steam locomotive.
“I can’t believe I’m never going to feel him again,” Cassenti said. “Every night on the couch, I put my fingers through his hair and I can’t believe I’m never going to have that again.”
Cassenti said he was heartened to see the shrine at O’Sheas filled with flowers and, of course, glitter.
“I saw glitter today, and I’m like, God damn it, more glitter,” Cassenti said with a laugh. “He loved glitter.”
Valentina Palm covers immigration and West Palm Beach for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Partner recalls night O’Shea’s bartender killed by hit-and-run driver
Reporting by Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
