Crowd mourns lionhearted teen
At candlelight vigil, Aiden Toussaint recalled as gregarious, goofy, caring
He was the friend who was drenched in sweat inside a Mickey Mouse costume to surprise a little brother at his first birthday party.
Hewas the worker whostayed at Taco Bell until 1 a.m. on a school night, one of two, sometimes three, jobs he held down to help his family pay bills and eventually buy the apple of his eye, a gray Infiniti.
He was the son, respectful but goofy,who always tried to make someone smile.
And about two months before his own death, 17-year-old Whitehall High School senior Aiden Toussaint was the stranger who saved the life of another, his mother Claudette Pottinger said.
Outside their Whitehall home, Toussaint saw a 21-year-old man hop out of a moving car and then attempt to run in front of it, his mother said. Toussaint yanked the man out of the way and sat him on the curb to talk.
Andhere Pottinger was Thursday evening outside Toussaint’s father’s Whitehall home, her dead son’s picture imprinted on a background of heavenly skies on her sweatshirt.
“Look how life is: Aiden saved somebody and somebody killed Aiden,” she said as hundreds of friends and family milled about her, wearing masks and holding candles. “But I believe that God needed an angel, and he saw it fit to take Aiden home. I’m going to live with that belief.”
The words “lion heart forever” were printed beneath Toussaint’s feet on the sweatshirt worn by a dozen family members.
“He had the heart of a lion,” explained his youngest brother, 12-year-old Josiah Deleon, clutching his mother’s waist.
Until she saw the multitudes turn out to mourn, Pottinger had no idea just how many people her son knew and touched. More than 200 cradled candles in the backyard for the vigil.
The teen, a senior on the Zephyrs wrestling team, was shot near Saucon Park in Bethlehem the evening of Sept. 29 in a marijuana sale-turned-robbery. He died at the hospital an hour later, and four other teens have been charged with homicide. Two of
them are eClassroom students at Freedom High School, and a third is a recent graduate of Liberty High School.
According to court records, Toussaint fired a BB gun during the alleged robbery.
In the matter of an hour, a large group of friends lost the leader who kept everyone together, the life of the party.
“Hewas the alpha of our pack,” said 18-year-old Johnae Roberts, whose 1-year-old brother Toussaint surprised. “Without him, I feel lost. Without him, it’s different.”
When Roberts met Toussaint his freshman year, he was standing outside the school directing traffic while incorporating robotic, hip-hop dance moves.
“I remember thinking, ‘What a weirdo,’” Roberts said, pulling out a video of him on her phone.
She had known who he was — they lived a street apart and their siblings were friends already. This was the first time they talked. They were wearing a similar outfit and connected instantly.
“You’re my best friend,” he told her.
That was how it was becoming friends with Aiden, friends shared at the vigil — instant.
Mutual friends introduced Toussaint and his girlfriend, Catasauqua graduate Alyssa Proctor, because they both had a love of cars. They started dating just last month, but spent every day together. She described him Thursday as her other half.
Jakyi McFarlane, 20, was introduced to Toussaint about five years ago through Toussaint’s godfather, whoasked McFarlane to watch over Toussaint when he moved to a new part of town.
“I tried to mentor him, but at times, to be honest, he would mentor me,” McFarlane said. “He was probably one of the
most caring people I ever met in my life.”
McFarlane’s younger brother also got close with Toussaint, whowas protective, so the group became like family.
Many friends agreed that Toussaint was wiser than his years.
“He was more mature than most of us,” Whitehall senior Marwah Luciano said.
“He was like a little man,” said neighbor Marita Hacker, recalling that as young as 3 or 4 years old, Toussaint would stick his hand out to shake the hands of adults who spoke to him.
He also pushed himself to get
better in wrestling by watching videos of his matches, Roberts said.
Since he was a child, Toussaint dreamed of joining the U.S. Air Force and studying law, his mother said. She’s not sure where he got the idea, except one of her cousins is a lawyer.
Just three months before he died, he had finally earned enough money to buy his Infiniti, which was always his favorite kind of car. That day, he got together with his friends and they raced on the highway, and he was all smiles.
Car rides were the source of several anecdotes friends shared Thursday. Others recalled how they met the gregarious boy, whom they called A.T. He would not want to see everyone crying, they said.
But at times, his father, Jacques Toussaint, couldn’t help it.
“I’m like an animal that had four legs,” he said, his voice breaking. “Now I have three.”