Hundreds of people gathered in Norwood to grieve and pay their respects to Tyler Lawrence, and many of them embraced one another through their emotions.
Principal Margo Fraczek of Coakley Middle School remarked, “Tyler was life.” The teen was shot and killed in broad daylight on a Sunday in Mattapan, where he frequently spent weekends visiting his grandmother.
His mother Remy was surrounded by a whole community that was utterly destroyed. Family friend Dominga Martin remarked:
“Tyler was special and exceptional.”
Tyler participated in a wide variety of volunteer activities. Big brother Toffer Winslow looked out for Tyler.
Winslow said:
“He was a joy. He was a kid who had boundless energy”
“I just don’t understand how this happens. It’s such an enormous loss of human potential. Tyler was going to be someone who was going to make a difference in this world. And the world has been robbed of that.”
A queue of people waiting to pay their respects at Tyler’s memorial service stretched from the street to the parking lot. Not shocking for a young man with NBA aspirations.
Additionally, we have covered some of the other shooting-related news that we have reported recently:
- State Police Look Into An Officer-involved Shooting In Jennings County
- 2 Arrested In Central California Shooting That Killed 6, Including Mother Holding 10-month-old Son
He was also involved with No Books No Ball, a group that pairs academic and athletic focus.
Tony Richardson, founder of No Books No Ball said:
“Every 13-year-old loves to live out their dream to play college and enter into the NBA,”
“It’s just a travesty that his life was cut short and not being able to live out those dreams.”
Tyler attended Norwood’s Coakley Middle School and was in seventh grade. He will be sorely missed in the classroom, the hallways, and the locker room, and his classmates, instructors, and families all felt an overwhelming sense of loss.
Many people cared deeply for him, and his memory will live on in our school and in our hearts, as Fraczek put it.
Martin said:
“What happened in our community is horrifying and tragic”
“This outpouring of love and support shows the impact of Tyler, and that the community is no longer going to stand for senseless murder.”
The homicide remains under investigation by the police. No one has been taken into custody as of yet.
