PALM COAST, Fla. – Two weeks after a Flagler Palm Coast High School track and field standout was shot and killed, hundreds of people showed up Sunday to celebrate his life.
Curtis Gray was an 18-year old senior at Flagler Palm Coast High School who was shot inside a parking lot of a strip mall in Palm Coast. He was flown to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
36-hours after the fatal shooting, 17-year old Marion Gavins Jr. turned himself in to authorities to face charges.
The community came together to honor Gray's life and support to his family at Palm Coast central Park.
Most of the hundreds attending the event were wearing white T-shirts that read LLC which stands for long live Curtis.
Among the crowds were Gray’s classmates from Flagler Palm Coast high as well as former classmates from Matanza High School.
After listening to speeches from family, friends and Gray's former coaches, the crowd got up and walked in unity around this park get out the message of stopping senseless violence.
Gray’s mother who was amazed by the show of support.
“This is phenomenal. It’s an indicator of who he was as a person. Yesterday I was at the funeral and it was just like you see right here with people lining up to come and give us love. I thought, how many of these kids walked across my threshold because of my son – gone through my refrigerator, stayed overnight, sat there played games. You just don’t the impact of one life until you have something like this happen,” said Carmen Gray.
In the wake Gray’s death, many of the adults of attended the event expressed what they hope youngsters can learn from this tragedy.
“I want them to understand they do have to control their actions. They’re in control of a lot," said Gray's track coach, Dave Halliday.
“All these people were impacted by him, so the decisions you make, choices you make, the way you conduct yourself in the world says a lot about you," said family friend Petal Floyd.
During the event, multiple speakers reached out to many of Curtis’s classmates and stressed to them the importance of making the right decisions in life. Decisions that could prevent deadly consequences.