ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just days after 11-year-old Amir Williams was accidentally shot by his brother, loved ones held a vigil to honor his young life.
The shooting happened at a St. Pete home near Childs Park on Friday. Police are still investigating, but tell 10 Tampa Bay that Amir’s 14-year-old brother said he found the stolen gun in an alley.
On Monday night, his family and friends gathered at Campbell Park to remember him.
Amir was just 11 years old, but he touched the lives of a lot of people. The vigil was organized by the parents and coaches of the St. Pete Lil' Devils football and cheerleading team, which competes in Florida Elite.
Amir was a running back on the team and was described as a ball of energy who loved learning in school.
More than a hundred people came to honor Williams, killed on a day off from school, in what police are calling a tragic accident.
“It makes me feel like he was really loved. Like I didn't know he knew this many people,” his cousin, Harmanie Miller, said. “I used to take him to the park. He would do flips. He was real playful. Like he didn't mean no one no harm.”
Amir left his mark on his Lil' Devils football team, where he shined with hopes of one day playing professionally.
He had just started spring practices with his 12-U team.
“That was his dream to get into that top tier,” Tony Headley said.
Headly mentored Amir as an instructional aide at Tyrone Middle School.
“I would always ask him, ‘Why do you want to be an NFL player, it's bigger than just making money?’ He said ‘I just want to give back to my community. I want to be able to come back home and be a hometown hero,” Headley said.
Amir and his siblings went to school wherever their mother worked in the cafeteria. He only recently started going to Azalea Middle School. At the start of the school year, he was at Tyrone Middle, where he made an impression on his teachers.
“His handwriting was beautiful,” Amir’s English teacher, Karen Wilke, said. “He would sit and take care to write his letters perfectly and not all kids have great handwriting, but he was particular about it.”
During the vigil, his mother spoke to the crowd asking not to cry for Amir, but to stay strong.
“Y’all play your hearts out for him,” his mother, Anushkia Donaldson, said. “Dedicate your education to him. Anything you've wanted or dreamt of in life, keep that going for him.”
10 Tampa Bay asked St. Petersburg police for an update on the case and if they've forwarded it to the state attorney’s office for review. A spokesperson said they are still actively investigating the case, figuring out how the gun got stolen and how it ended up in the hands of Amir’s 14-year-old brother.