‘A fabulous friend’
Hundreds turn out to remember life of 13-year-old shot in Mattapan
Even with his life cut tragically short, 13-yearold Tyler Lawrence made a deep impact on the Norwood community — a message drilled home by the hundreds and hundreds of friends, peers and neighbors who lined up for a moment to remember and celebrate his life with his family.
“I really don’t know what to say,” said Tyler’s grandfather Stanley Lawrence quietly, facing a crowd still pouring into the parking lot outside as the memorial ended. “The outpouring of love for my grandson, it’s just holding us as a family together right now. I’ve never in my wildest dreams known that Tyler touched so many people.”
Tyler Lawrence, a 7th grade student at Coakley Middle School, was shot and killed while visiting his grandparents in Mattapan last Sunday around 11:30 a.m. No arrests have been made.
The family hosted a celebration of Tyler’s life from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The occupancy limit on the event space led to a line around the block that lasted well over two hours as people unmoved by the setting sun slowly filed in and out to greet the family.
The mood was mixed — some openly sobbing at the loss of a bright young life, while others warmly recounted Tyler’s love of basketball, or infectious energy at school, or bond with his family.
“Whether he was walking through the halls with a giant smile… or whether he was out in the lunch room and popping from seat to seat to seat and I was like, ‘Tyler, just pick a seat,’ because he was just everywhere, and friends with everyone, and a fabulous friend,” said Margo Fraczek, principal at Coakley Middle. “I just want you to know all of those moments will be with us forever.”
Following his death, Tyler’s family has called on the city to feel the outrage over the senseless violence and critiqued authorities’ characterization of the shooting as “targeted.”
Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden told press Friday, “this shooter’s evil intent should not draw or bear any assumptions about Tyler in any size, shape or form.”
“We need never see something like this hopefully ever again,” Hayden said at the memorial Sunday. “Our communities and our people should be outraged by this. That outrage should carry forth over our city and cover us all.”
Hayden added the DA’s office and BPD are doing “everything we can to solve this case.”
The support and bond in the community was everywhere Sunday afternoon, with Tyler’s face on sweatshirts and buttons. In the line outside, people leaned on each other, students grouped tightly together and a couple folks passed around food.
“(Tyler) knew there were many people in his community, his family, his grandparents, his mother, who had his back and were there to make opportunities happen for him,” said Toffer Wilson, who spent time with Tyler through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. “And he really knew in his heart that he was part of the community.”
That sense, Wilson said, made him certain Tyler was “going to have a big impact on the world.”
“From the soles of my feet to the top of my head, thank you,” said Stanley Lawrence, standing outside with the crowd. “Each and every person. I feel your love. I know Tyler feels it too.”