'Carry a little piece of Keyon with you': Family, classmates gather for slain Springfield teen

Nine siblings and her mom and dad lived in Kamariya Thomas' house in Springfield.

It was big enough, though, a couple of years ago to let in Keyon Day, Thomas' then-eighth grade classmate, when he was having issues at home.

"We made it better for him," Thomas said. "That was like my brother."

More: Springfield high school student who was shot and killed is identified

Thomas was talking about Day, 16, who was shot and killed the morning of April 24, at a makeshift memorial for the Southeast High School sophomore at Dreamland Park.

Thomas, also a Southeast sophomore, let tears flow Thursday afternoon.

She called Day "an amazing person with a warm smile."

"Whenever you were around Keyon, you had a good time," assured Thomas.

Later, at a balloon release that attracted around 300 people at Dreamland Park, Ida Day said her grandson was loved by everyone.

"No matter what school, he didn't know any strangers," she said. "He told funny jokes, and everybody tended to gravitate to him. I don't know why this happened."

Day's other grandmother, Faye Wilson, didn't expect to attend a memorial for her grandson.

"They shouldn't have taken my baby's life," Wilson said. "He didn't deserve this."

The outpouring by so many people was "true love for him," Wilson said. "These kids came from everywhere: Lanphier, Southeast, Springfield High. They all came for Keyon."

Xavier Stumpf, a Southeast sophomore, said Day ran track and played football at Southeast.

Day was "off-the-wall, a good kid who tried to make everyone laugh," Stumpf said. "His energy was good energy."

Another Southeast sophomore, Riley Biggers, said the school was "devastated" by what happened.

"It doesn't feel the same without him there," Biggers said.

The district's Crisis Response Team, said Rachel Dyas, a spokeswoman for School District 186 , was supporting students and staff at Southeast.

Marcel Dean, a family friend, told the gathering at Dreamland Park to keep Day's "spirit alive each and every day.

"Each and every day, carry a little piece of Keyon with you," Dean added. "Smile like he smiled. Be happy like he was. Challenge the world like he did."

Day was walking northbound on Taylor Avenue, on the west side of the street, when gunfire struck him multiple times in the lower part of the torso just after 8:30 a.m.

Multiple witnesses talked to by Springfield Police , Deputy Chief Sara Pickford said, have been called "persons of interest."

Witnesses told police they saw two vehicles after the shooting being driven at high rates of speed and being driven erratically.

Vehicles matching the descriptions were later found by police unoccupied.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: 'Carry a little piece of Keyon with you': Family, classmates gather for slain Springfield teen