TAMPA, Fla. — Tributes for Andrew Joseph III continued to pour in over the weekend.
His family held a fundraiser in his honor in Tampa's WR Event Center on Saturday. Loved ones who've also lost loved ones attended in solidarity with the Joseph family.
A light brigade and candlelight vigil were also held on Friday.
"This is a very difficult weekend," Andrew's father said. "I lost my best friend."
Andrew Joseph III was 14 years old when he was ejected from the Florida State Fair in 2014. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, where a jury in 2022 found HCSO primarily responsible.
While the teen's father called it vindication, he said the pain the family carries is a life sentence.
While the grief won't ever stop, neither will the help for others through The Andrew Joseph Foundation – which advocates for children's safety and also supports families with lost children.
Support came from all over, including grieving family members from high-profile cases, like the father of Michael Brown Jr. and relatives of Emmett Till.
"When something happens to someone else, it's definitely our business, our problem as well, so we need to get in that fight," Amberly Carter, a relative of Till, said.
Carter also serves as a board member for The Andrew Joseph Foundation.
The Joseph family's call for safety struck a chord with other families like Calandrian Kemp of Houston, Texas. She lost her son George Kemp Jr. in 2013 to gun violence.
"We joined together as families, grieving together, plugging into one another together to find a pathway," Kemp said. "We've been all across the country... supporting families who have lost loved ones who look like us."
Like the Joseph family, she started the "No Weapon 1 Life Empowerment Foundation," working to help people impacted by gun violence themselves.
Five months after the trial against HCSO, Andrew's mother Deanna said there's gratitude in her heart for the support she's had.
While the grieving won't ever stop, neither will the work through their foundation.
"The work saved my life because it gave me something to look forward to each day," the teen's mother said.
After the trial, the Florida State Fair set new rules regarding the attendance of minors. Now, after 6 p.m., kids 17 and under must have a paying parent or guardian.
The guardian must be 21 or up, and can only look after a maximum of four minors.