A brick wall near Mojave High School shows messages honoring Taylor Brantley, who was shot dead during an after-school fight on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015.
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Renee Burr, mother of teenage shooting victim Taylor Brantley, is shown holding a Bible at a vigil near Mojave High School, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015.
At the spot outside a North Las Vegas high school where a 16-year-old boy lay dying from a gunshot wound Friday, candles and flowers now rest.
The words "Long live Taylor" are written in chalk.
Across the street, a brick wall also bears chalk messages honoring Taylor Brantley, known to friends as Tay Meez.
It was against that wall that Brantley's mother, Renee Burr, stood Monday evening, pleading for information about her son's death in a vigil that drew dozens of supporters.
“Whoever knows anything, please just ease my pain by letting me know who took my son’s life,” she said.
Brantley was fatally shot Friday near Mojave High School, at 5302 Goldfield St., near East Washburn Road and North 5th Street.
Police say 40 to 50 people, including students of the school, were gathered in the area off campus in a fight, during which at least two shots were fired.
Officers found Brantley on the ground outside the school, and he was taken to University Medical Center, where he died, North Las Vegas Police Officer Aaron Patty said.
No suspect is in custody, and police had not released a suspect description as of Monday night.
Classes went on as usual Monday at Mojave, and school activities went back to normal after all weekend events were canceled, according to a letter from school Principal Antonio Rael, which was posted on the school's Facebook page.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the young man who lost his life in such a senseless way," the letter read.
Rael also said grief counselors and additional security would be on campus this week.
A GoFundMe account established to help with the costs of Brantley's funeral had raised $858 of its $10,000 goal as of Monday night.
At the vigil, the grieving mother cried and embraced family members in an evening of remembrance and prayer. She described her son as a kind and loving boy, not the gun-toting kid friends and family say they’ve seen depicted on the news.
"They tried to portray Taylor as such a bad person," she said, "but if he was so bad, why would so many people come out and show their love and respect for him?"
Grasping a Bible, a soft-spoken Burr told the crowd she doesn't want violent retaliation to follow her son's death.
“Somebody else's mother is going to be crying,” she said. “Somebody else's child is going to be killed.”
Kels Ward, 17, said she and her group of friends had known Brantley since the sixth grade.
Ward is one of several students who said video was circulating of the fatal shooting.
The former Mojave student said she watched it and couldn't forget the images.
"It just kept replaying in my head," she said. "Like, how could you just record somebody dead, lying on the floor?"
Ward said she hopes for justice in the case.
"We just want him back," she said.
Pastor Troy Martinez of the East Vegas Christian Center said it’s hard to count how many times he’s experienced moments like these.
A grieving mother stands before fellow mourners honoring her dead child, and the teen’s friends wonder how something like this could happen.
“There is hope,” he said. “There was a time when a young person would be killed and no one would show up. The next day, there would just be an empty chair in the classroom.”
Martinez is the chairman of Rebuilding Every Community Around Peace, also known as RECAP.
The organization, which seeks to reduce homicide numbers in partnership with Metro Police, organizes vigils, including this one.
The goal of these events is to spread the message of peace and to show teens they can help stop the violence, he said.
The fight that killed Brantley started off small, he said.
“In the same way, something can start small and build big — but in a positive way,” he said.
Surrounded by support, Burr said she hopes someone will come forward with details on her son's case to provide her with some relief. However, she also hopes her son's death serves as a message to the community on violence.
"It has to stop somewhere," she said. "Let my son's death be the stopping point. Let it go no further."
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