Track star: Step up to honor my slain girl
OLYMPIC SPRINTER Tyson Gay made a moving plea for peace Saturday at his daughter’s funeral.
The shooting death of 15-year-old Trinity Gay left her silver medalist father reeling — and ready to make a change.
“This is our community that we need to take back,” Gay said as he addressed the mourners at the Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Ky.
“A lot of kids are followers now. We need to be there for each other but I need everyone's help from the mayor to the police to all of you to allow her legacy to keep moving.”
Nearly 1,000 people, many wearing Trinity’s favorite colors pink and purple, packed the massive church.
Trinity Gay was out with friends when a bullet ripped into her neck last Sunday outside a Lexington Cook Out restaurant. The shooting erupted around 4 a.m. when men in two cars opened fire on each other in the restaurant parking lot, police said. Four men were arrested.
On Saturday, gospel music filled the air, giving the service an uplifting atmosphere, as mourners made their way past the casket and dozens of flower arrangements were on display around the church and lobby.
A teary-eyed Gay greeted friends and family as they paid their respects.
When it came time to eulogize his teen daughter, Tyson was composed and kept to his message of hope.
“I just don’t want to let go, but I know she’s in heaven,” said a stone-faced Gay, who also wore purple in honor of Trinity.
“She would want us to protect our children. I know we can’t save everybody but we have to come together and do better.”
Following in her father’s fast footsteps, Trinity was a rising track star.
She lived with her 32-yearold mother Shoshana Boyd in Lexington.
She wanted to become a surgeon and was remembered as a popular high school student whose true potential will never be known.
“She knew where she was going and she was on her way to get there,” Trinity’s grandmother Daisy Lowe said.
“There is hidden untapped potential in each of us,” Lowe said. “Out of her death, many will be saved. Many will be changed. A seed has been sown. Take the baton and run with it.”
Gay released a statement Friday saying he aims to mentor young men and women about gun violence in the wake of his tragic loss.
“Last Sunday morning, I was awakened by the worst news a parent can hear,” Gay wrote. “The death of my daughter as an innocent bystander is devastating, but I am determined that it not be senseless.”
Trinity will be buried Monday in rural Russellville, Ky.