Family holds vigil, balloon release for 13-year-old killed Tuesday in Central City
By Harrison Golden
WDSU 6 News
March 20, 2022
NEW ORLEANS -- Byron Kelly told his mom he was going to a Central City gas station to buy snacks. He never made it.
Byron, 13, was shot and killed Tuesday night. And on Saturday, the loved ones he left behind released balloons in his honor.
"I miss my brother," the late teen's brother told a crowd of mourners just before sunset. "He's in Heaven."
The vigil fueled a spectrum of emotions: gratitude for the life Byron lived; joy for the friends gathered in his name; sadness for his loss; anger toward whoever killed him.
"He never lived his life yet," said father Byron Kelly Sr., fearing that without action, more children will face gun violence. "I feel like there's more to come. It's senseless."
But the elder Kelly still holds hope in more peaceful days — even without his son here to see them.
And as the balloons they released grew more distant at sunset, a grieving mother's urgency rang louder.
"At the end of the day, my son was killed," said mother Seymone Thomas, directing her message to city leaders. "You're going to find out who did it, so I can rest. But until I can rest, they will not. I owe that to my son, and they do too."
(This story first appeared on WDSU. Click here to see the original post.)
By Harrison Golden
WDSU 6 News
March 20, 2022
NEW ORLEANS -- Byron Kelly told his mom he was going to a Central City gas station to buy snacks. He never made it.
Byron, 13, was shot and killed Tuesday night. And on Saturday, the loved ones he left behind released balloons in his honor.
"I miss my brother," the late teen's brother told a crowd of mourners just before sunset. "He's in Heaven."
The vigil fueled a spectrum of emotions: gratitude for the life Byron lived; joy for the friends gathered in his name; sadness for his loss; anger toward whoever killed him.
"He never lived his life yet," said father Byron Kelly Sr., fearing that without action, more children will face gun violence. "I feel like there's more to come. It's senseless."
But the elder Kelly still holds hope in more peaceful days — even without his son here to see them.
And as the balloons they released grew more distant at sunset, a grieving mother's urgency rang louder.
"At the end of the day, my son was killed," said mother Seymone Thomas, directing her message to city leaders. "You're going to find out who did it, so I can rest. But until I can rest, they will not. I owe that to my son, and they do too."
(This story first appeared on WDSU. Click here to see the original post.)