A memorial is growing as a community mourns for a Raleigh high school football player, who was killed in a shooting.
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A group of teachers has started an online fundraiser to help the family of Khandyn “KJ” Jones with funeral expenses.
They wrote, “KJ was a bright, kind young person who touched the lives of many, and his absence is deeply felt by everyone who knew him.”
One of his relatives told ABC11 that the family, especially his mother, is dealing with the heartbreak and going through a lot of emotions.
The family painted a message on the windows of their home, reading “Long Live KJ.”
Raleigh police said the 15-year-old Leesville Road High School student-athlete was shot Friday evening. He was taken to a hospital and died there from his injuries.
“KJ was a bright, kind young person who touched the lives of many, and his absence is deeply felt by everyone who knew him.”
Police have taken a 16-year-old into custody. The underage suspect was charged with murder and is being held at a juvenile detention facility.
Some in the community said the senseless violence shows that more needs to be done to prevent these kinds of tragedies.
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“They had only one KJ … and he not only belonged to them but the whole community,” said Dr. Kimberly Muktarian, who has been fighting gun violence for years with the group Save Our Sons.
She said she was heartbroken to see someone else’s son taken, and at the hands of another teenager.
“And today, our children don’t communicate; they’re not taught to reason or to have reasonable expectations of each other, we don’t have communities, we have neighborhoods, community takes communications, and that’s what we’re lacking,” Muktarian said. Her own son, JaQynn, was shot about a month ago near Poole Road.
“We were marching on that same block against gun violence,” she said. “On that same block.”
Her son was shot in the leg. Two others were also shot. JaQynn passed out and lost a lot of blood before someone called 911. He is recovering after being released from the hospital.
“Standing on the outside looking in, having a voice for the people, and then going through so much trauma, you have no voice, so getting that news, it was chilling to the bone,” Muktarian said.
Now, with another example of violence, she hopes it can serve as a lesson. It’s not the first, and if we don’t do something about it, it won’t be the last,” she said.
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ABC11 is working to learn what led up to the shooting.
ABC11 is The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.