Author photo

By Byrne Bennett
The Record-Times 

Hall-Turner mourned

 

Last updated 3/3/2023 at 9:22pm

Byrne Bennett | The Record-Times

15-year-old Shadrach Hall-Turner is remembered by friends, family and community members from Reardan and Spokane at a vigil at Audubon Park Sunday, Feb. 26. More coverage of the community's reaction and response to the shooting in Reardan Wednesday, Feb. 22 can be found on page A3.

SPOKANE – Shadrach Hall-Turner was remembered by approximately 150 people at a gathering of family and friends at Audubon Park Sunday, Feb. 26.

"I have no words, guys," Hall-Turner's grandmother, Tina Hall said, looking out over the crowd. "This is insane. Look at all his friends."

Hall set the tone of the event by greeting each person with a hug, a warm smile and grateful words.

Hall-Turner's 2021 JV Falcons Pop Warner football team mingled in the crowd as music from his playlist played in the background.

"Don't be offended by the music," Hall said. "But this was Shadrach. He was only 15."

"Shadrach was an incredible athlete with so much raw talent," she added. "I'm so grateful his football team is here. They played ball together, and they sweated together. Those are the connections that you remember."

As the crowd enjoyed refreshments, Hall reminisced about her grandson.

She said he was a big-hearted boy who loved to spend time with family and friends.

"I'm not saying he wasn't stubborn, because he was," Hall said. "And I'm not saying he wasn't hardheaded, because he was. But he loved people. At the grocery store, he would ask old people if he could help them with their groceries."

Hall described him as being non-judgmental and always willing to help others.

"I use a walker and it's a long walk to his school in Reardan," she said. "He would push me in my walker and made sure that I didn't fall. If I ever called myself 'large,' he'd say, 'No, you're not. You're just grandma.'"

Hall-Turner loved to laugh, and he considered himself the class clown. If his attempts at humor came across as rude, Hall called him on it.

When she did, he would laugh and say, "I'm just kidding, nobody can take a joke."

Hall said her grandson was a big dreamer who one day expected to play in the NFL. After he made it big, he planned on buying a Bugatti for himself and a house and car for her.

"We're a middle-class family who doesn't care about those sorts of things," Hall said. "But he was going to do it for us. He had the talent and ability to do it one day."

Hall recounted how her grandson could endear himself to others. At the fair one year, he became lost when the family split and went their separate ways. After a frantic search, they found him strolling the midway "with a plastic sword and all kinds of stuff."

"Shadrach had a big heart," said Hall-Turner's aunt, Jody Ober. "He liked so many people and had so many friends. This loss is huge. We are all very sad."

Several students from Reardan huddled together to remember their friend.

"He was my best friend," Izaiah Paige said.

"For a while I was going through some lows and was out there being a little terrorizer," he said. "I didn't have any place to stay, and Shad asked his family if I could move in. I was all by myself and he gave me a family. It's hard now. I want him to be remembered as loud and rambunctious, but mostly kind-hearted."

Vaea LaMoureaux, a friend from school, echoed that.

"Everyone could agree he was kind and caring and never thought twice when someone was in need of help," LaMoreux said.

Hall designed a T-shirt she wished all his friends to have. Hall-Turner's picture is on the front of the shirt and Reardan High School's logo is on the sleeve. On the back it reads, "It's really hard to forget Shadrach who gave us so much to remember him by."

Hall offered advice to his friends.

"If I could tell them anything, it would be what I always told him," she said. "There are consequences for all behaviors that we choose. So, work hard and just go for it. Don't let anyone get in your way."

Hall wants her grandson to be remembered as he lived, not how he died.

"I do not want Shadrach to be remembered as the kid that got shot in Reardan," she said.

"That is not who he is. He was much more than that. He was a friend, a son, a brother, a cousin, and he was a nephew. He was a good-hearted kid. I want him to be remembered with that rare smile, that infectious laughter, and the one who jumps onto the bed and tells a joke. That's how I wanted him to be remembered – that smile."

As the vigil wound down, Hall looked at those who remained, and smiled.

"God is good, and we appreciate everyone for being here," Hall said. "This was awesome. To be hugged by a crowd of people was amazing."

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024