Serrano, of Manassas, was one of two men killed in the Tuesday, Sept. 29 workplace shooting at United Rentals that shattered two families and sent police on a multistate search for the suspected gunman.
But to those who loved Serrano, the headlines about what happened inside that workplace tell only how his life ended, not who he was.
He was a father of two whose children were his world, a devoted partner and the older cousin who spent years looking out for the younger kids in his family.
"Our children were his world, and knowing that they now have to grow up without their dad is something I still cannot fully comprehend," his longtime partner, Mayra Maturano, wrote in a tribute.
Their son had turned 10 just days before the shooting. Their daughter will soon turn 3.
"Above everything else, he loved being their dad," Maturano wrote on a GoFundMe launched to support the family.
Serrano's cousin, Omar Arzeta, remembered him from a different chapter of his life, long before he became a father.
Growing up, Serrano was "one of the big brothers of our family," Arzeta wrote in a post of his own.
He remembered afternoons spent wrestling and trading cards with Serrano, and sitting by the window waiting for his cousins to come over.
"Those are memories that seem so small when you're living them, but as you get older, you realize just how much they mean," Arzeta wrote.
Serrano was killed alongside 48-year-old Richard Lamont when a gunman opened fire at the United Rentals facility in Manassas. A third coworker was also shot and survived.
Police identified the suspected shooter as 37-year-old Marvin Grant of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Grant fled after the shooting, authorities said, triggering a search that stretched across state lines before he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound along I-81 in Virginia.
As investigators worked to piece together the violence, Serrano's family was left confronting a future that had changed without warning.
A fundraiser organized by Maturano had raised more than $54,000 from more than 750 donations by Friday, Oct. 2, with the money earmarked for funeral and Celebration of Life expenses, immediate household needs, and support for their children.
The response has extended beyond relatives and friends.
The Villa Advocacy Group, a community where Maturano had supported other mothers, made an exception to its usual rules against fundraising posts to rally behind the family.
"Mayra is not just someone in this group," organizers wrote. "She is a mother who has shown up for other mothers."
"We are so incredibly sorry. There truly are no words big enough for the heartbreak you and your children are experiencing right now," they added.
"We are so sorry for the loss of your husband, your children’s father, and the life you were building together. Our hearts ache for you and your babies."
Now, they said, it was time for her community to show up for her.
For Serrano's family, however, the tributes keep returning to the smaller moments: birthdays, childhood afternoons, trading cards and a father simply being there for his children.
"And today, I carry you with me, Chris," Arzeta wrote. "Thank you for the memories. Thank you for being part of my childhood. Thank you for being the big brother I remember."
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