MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Family, friends and teammates are still mourning the sudden loss of two teens who died in a shooting Friday.
A slideshow of memories is all the Kingsbury High School football team has left to remember one of their own, offensive lineman Nicholas Millican.
“He was a big old teddy bear,” Brad Kornegay said.
Kornegay calls himself the Character Coach for the Falcons, many of whom call him ‘Dad.’
He’s with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has been volunteering at Kingsbury for 14 years.
He says the sudden death of Millican hurts for himself, for the coaches and for the kids.
“When you lose a child who had his future ahead of him, that’s hard,” Kornegay said.
He said Millican played until last season and didn’t know if he graduated.
That left him asking questions.
“I was asking a buddy the question, ‘Why?” Kornegay said. “We all ask what else could we have done. He sent me back a picture of all of the kids kneeling. I say a prayer before every game.”
Others, like Kingsbury graduate David Clark, remember Millican fondly since he just spent time with him last week.
“Nick was doing better than half of us who graduated. He got a job, his own car. He was a good kid. He just got caught up in bad places sometimes,” Clark said.
Police say they’re trying to find this man, who started following Millican and some friends on Macon Road Friday afternoon.
They said Millican intervened and went to the back of the store with the man and Reed. That’s when police say the suspect shot and killed both Millican and his friend, Audrea Reed.
“We take that memory of him. I hope we can use a tragedy like this for everyone to understand that this is so senseless,” Kornegay said. “I’m a big believer that we can change our city, country and world one child at a time. We just need to get involved.”
From one coach, who is searching for answers in hopes of keeping this from happening again.
The families of both Reed and Millican are holding a vigil tomorrow night at the corner of Macan and Maria. They say it will start at dusk.
Millican’s family asks anyone who wishes to help to donate to Serenity Funeral Home on Sycamore View.