Jaylon McKenzie, an 8th grade football phenomenon, shot at a party

The 14-year-old from Belleville, Ill., Was an eighth grade student and had already received university offers from the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois. He appeared in the Sports Illustrated Future Issue in November 2018 with five other teenage sports stars. He wanted to be a pro star in California, playing for the Los Angeles Rams or Chargers.

The East St. Louis 189 school district, where Jaylon was a student, confirmed that some of his students had been shot at the Saturday night party.

"School District 189 has learned that some of our students were shot at a party in Venice, Illinois, at some point on Saturday night," according to a statement from the district. "Few details are clear at this stage. We know that our youth, families and school staff have faced a number of tragedies and acts of violence this year. We ask them for the space and time they need to cope with this grief in a proper way. last impact of violence ".

"I just started screaming"

Gunner told CNN on Sunday that his family usually traveled every weekend for football-related activities.

Because Jaylon played in a summer football team, in basketball and ran on track, he did not usually attend parties.

But May was slower, she said, so Jaylon had more free time.

Gunner said Jaylon was with friends on Saturday night.

"They stopped at the party, with no intention of staying long," she said. They were there to get something from a friend, she said.

Around midnight she received a call from Jaylon's brother with the news.

"I just started screaming," she said. "I just prayed and asked the Lord not to take my baby."

Gunner said that she and her family were struggling to accept the death of Jaylon.

"It's very difficult," she says. "It's always like a bad dream, as if I were waking up in the morning and my baby would smile at me and ask me to eat something like he always does."

The first word of Jaylon was "ball", says his mother

Jaylon was the youngest of five children, said Gunner.

The schoolboy has always loved football. His first word was "ball", according to his mother.

"He loved the ball and as soon as he was able to walk and catch, he just wanted the ball," she said.

At age 3, Jaylon was already getting up on Saturday morning and dressed as he went to a game.

At age 5, he started playing football, his mother said.

"You could see talent at age 5, but at age 6, it was like" Wow where does it come from? "and every year it gets better and better," said Gunner.

"He loved watching them and perfecting his art," said Gunner.

But there was more than Jaylon outside of football and sports, said his mother.

Jaylon loved fashion and "loved to dress," Gunner said. He loved sneakers, video games, shopping and spending time with his "group of friends".

Gunner also said that his son had a "beautiful smile" and that he was talking softly.

"He was not a man of many words," she says. "He had a humiliating personality, he was not very sociable, but everyone knew him and loved him."

Politicians and Athletes Respond to Jaylon's Death

Illinois representative LaToya Greenwood has published a tribute on Facebook about Jaylon.

"There is a sacred in tears, they are not the mark of weakness, but of power.They speak more eloquently than ten thousand languages.They are the messengers of an overwhelming sorrow, of a profound contrition and indescribable love. #JaylonMcKenzie "

"My heart and my prayers go to Jaylon McKenzie's family and friends, Matthew 5: 4," he writes. The scripture that he quoted reads as follows: "Blessed are those who cry, for they will be comforted."