Tyler Lawrence's short life left a lasting legacy
The Sunday morning he was murdered began like any other. He was with his grandmother, when he grabbed a few bucks from her and headed out, probably to the nearby CVS to buy candy.
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Tyler never got there. He was shot to death, in broad daylight, in a brazen and inexplicable act of violence.
Though his grandfather, Stanley, got an alert on his phone that a shooting had occurred in the neighborhood, it never dawned on him that Tyler could be the victim.
It wasn't until hours later — hours his mother spent frantically tracking Tyler's cellphone, which was in the hands of homicide detectives — that Boston police notified them that her child had been killed.
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The immediate aftermath was both tragic and messy. Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden erroneously stated that Tyler had been targeted. Mayor Michelle Wu was slow to visit and deliver her condolences, appearing at the family's home only after Remy Lawrence publicly asked for a meeting.
A man with a lengthy criminal record, Csean Skerritt, was
Those moments still sting Remy Lawrence and her father.
But they have also been very busy preserving her son's memory.
'The pain never goes away,' Stanley Lawrence told me. 'But we continue to live our lives. I'm so proud of the things Remy [has] done with her life, what she's standing for, standing for a son, continuing to keep his legacy alive.'
The Coakley Middle School in Norwood, which Tyler attended, holds an annual basketball tournament in his honor. No Books No Ball, the legendary afterschool program in Roxbury, honored Tyler the summer after his death, and was represented at the park dedication.
Northeastern University Law School — where Stanley Lawrence has been part of the facilities staff for three decades — now has a
And now Norwood has a park named after Tyler, on a hillside at the local airport.
'This gesture from the town of Norwood really helps to reaffirm that Tyler's life mattered,' Remy Lawrence said. 'The preciousness of his life matters and is valued by this town and our community here, and that we, as a family, matter. And what a profound and meaningful way to remember Tyler, to ensure that future generations will come to know him and remember him, learn about him.'
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Suffolk DA Hayden was at the dedication — he and the Lawrence family have long since buried the bad feelings in the wake of the shooting.
'Remy is a pillar of strength,' Hayden said. 'We know how important Tyler was to her family and to an entire community. He did nothing wrong and by no means deserved in any size, shape, or form what happened to him. We stand with her.'
Remy Lawrence is an only child who lost her only child. Tragedy has brought her and her father even closer than ever. (Tyler's grandmother has since died.)
They share Tyler's memory. And also, the dream of who he might have become.
'He is so deserving of all of these accolades,' Remy Lawrence said. 'It's a testament to who Tyler was, to who he was going to be. And when I think about the park, I think that a bright light shines in the world and beyond, and that's Tyler.'
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
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