Vigil held for teen shot at N.C. school

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nearly 150 family and friends lit candles, held hands, prayed and wept Thursday night in recalling the life of Bobby McKeithen, the 16-year-old student fatally shot by another student in a hall at Butler High School.

“This is not the end of Bobby’s legacy, but the beginning,” his uncle Roy Mewborn told The Charlotte Observer as the crowd gathered for the vigil in a parking lot at Camp Greene Park across from Philip O. Berry Academy in west Charlotte. “We have to find a resolution to all of this.”

“Bobby was a great kid,” Mewborn said. “The kind of kid you would want your kids to be friends with. He was quiet, never judgmental. Just a normal kid who was loving life.”

McKeithen was shot before classes started Monday and died later that day at Carolinas Medical Center, Matthews Police said.

A fellow student, 16-year-old Jatwan Craig Cuffie, was charged with first-degree murder.

Many at Thursday’s vigil were McKeithen’s fellow students and their parents. Others were concerned community members.

“We have to stop hurting each other,” Judy Williams, founder of Mothers of Murdered Offspring, told the gathering. “If this doesn’t stop, we won’t have a future.”

“What you’ve got to do is love one another,” she said. “No retaliation. No revenge. Parents, pray with your children.”

“We can’t bring this precious Bobby back,” Mecklenburg County commissioner Pat Cotham told the mourners. “But we can do better. We can be kinder, as a legacy to his life.”

Several students addressed the crowd, recalling McKeithen’s giving, loving spirit and urging fellow students to reach out to struggling classmates.

“Love everyone around you, even if they’re not in your circle,” one student told the gathering. “They’re still your family.”

Thursday’s vigil was a start, said Mario Black, founder of the Million Youth March of Charlotte & Salisbury, which organized the event.

A GoFundMe campaign to cover McKeithen’s funeral expenses raised $15,315 toward a $25,000 goal by Thursday night, with the help of about 500 donors.