Friends and family gathered Sunday afternoon to remember a Delaware teen who was shot and killed less than a month after another student died at the same high school he attended.
A prayer service was held for 15-year-old Brandon Wingo at the Nativity Preparatory School, where he attended middle school, in Wilmington around 1 p.m. Sunday.
"We're hurting but we're together," said Paul Webster, the principal of Nativity Preparatory School. "Especially in the face of a city that isn't safe or doesn't feel safe at the moment."
Wingo was on the 900 block of Clifford Brown Walk in Wilmington Thursday around 3:15 p.m. when an unidentified gunman shot him in the head. He was taken to Christiana Hospital where he died from his injuries.
The shooting occurred only a few blocks away from Howard High School of Technology where Wingo was a freshman student. The school was already dealing with another tragedy prior to Wingo's death. Another Howard student, Amy Joyner Francis, 16, died following a fight in a school restroom. Three girls face charges in Joyner-Francis' death.
Wilmington Police didn't immediately give a motive or a suspect description in Thursday's shooting. They asked anyone with information to contact the Homicide Hotline at 302-576-3939 or text an anonymous tip to 888777. A $10,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
A memorial for Wingo continues to grow at the scene of the shooting which occurred only steps away from Lynette Shorts Kornegay's home.
"When it hit here it just hurts a little more because it happened here," Kornegay said. "It's difficult because when you close your eyes, that's what you see. I hope that picture goes out of my head."
Kornegay, a writer who recently published a book of poetry, wrote the following poem in the teen's memory:
I GOT MY WINGS
BUT I WASN'T READY FOR THEM
I HAD TO GO WHEN GOD SAID COME WITH HIM
HE SAID DON'T LOOK BACK
EVERYBODY WILL BE OKAY
THEY'LL ONLY MOURN FOR NOW
BUT I'LL MAKE A WAY
TO CHECK ON YOU SOMETIME
JUST SO I KNOW YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT TODAY
TAKE CARE OF THOSE I LEFT BEHIND
BECAUSE THEY NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO SAY GOOBYE
SOMETIMES WE DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE THINGS PEOPLE DO
IT ONLY CAUSES GRIEF TO EVERYBODY I KNEW
GOD PLEASE HELP THOSE
THAT WILL HAVE A HARD TIME FOR ME
HELP THEIR HEARTS SO THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SEE
THEY'LL SEE ME AGAIN
BUT ONLY GOD KNOWS WHEN
I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART
FOR ONLY RIGHT NOW WE ARE ALL APART
I'LL WATCH OVER YOU UNTIL YOU GET HERE
GOD'S GOING TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH
BUT I WILL ALWAYS BE NEAR
RIGHT NOW I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY
THAT MY LIFE WAS TAKEN AWAY
I DIDN'T KNOW EITHER
THAT I'D BE GONE TODAY
SOMETIMES PEOPLE DO THE MOST UNIMAGINABLE THINGS
THEN WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH
ANY AND EVERYTHING THAT LIFE BRINGS
YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET ME GO
CAUSE I WILL BE BACK FOR YOU
BUT RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE TO TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME
SO YOU CAN MAKE IT THROUGH
BECAUSE OF THE HARD TIME THAT SOMEONE MADE FOR ME
EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT
YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE
BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I TOO GOT MY WINGS
SO I'LL SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET HERE
TAKE CARE FOR NOW
I'M RESTING EASY
R.I.P. BRANDON
