Oxford shooting deaths include honor student, athletes and artist
One played high school football well enough to catch the eyes of college recruiters.
Another excelled in bowling and golf.
One girl played volleyball and basketball. Another loved art.
The four teens chased different passions but they will remain forever linked as those who died from gunshot wounds they suffered at Oxford High School on a Tuesday afternoon.
Tate Myre, 16, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Hana St. Juliana, 14, died within hours of the shooting. Justin Shilling, 17, survived an additional day, before dying in a local hospital.
Their names join a litany of others who have died in schools across the nation as part of a scourge of gun violence that began before the eldest of them was born.
Though four young people lost their lives, seven others — students Phoebe Arthur, John Asciutto, Riley Franz, Elijah Mueller, Kylie Ossege and Aiden Watson as well as teacher Molly Darnell — were also wounded in gunfire, according to authorities.
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Oxford tough
Tate Myre played running back, tight end and linebacker on Oxford's football team. He also wrestled. His player profile listed him at 6 feet, 195 pounds. He was an honor student with a 3.9 grade point average.
He was the youngest of three brothers. Tate's father, Buck, headed the football team parents' group, arranging dinners and assisting with fundraising.
“It’s the All-American family,” said JR Laefner, a family friend who serves as public address announcer at school football games. “If you're in trouble or if you need anything, they're there to help. They're there for the kids. They love school. They're just that high school family that's involved.”
Three days before the shooting, he attended a football game at the University of Toledo. In a tweet the following day, he thanked the coaches for the invitation and included a photo of himself near the end zone. He wore his Oxford varsity jacket with a field pass draped around his neck.
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In late October, Tate appeared in an online video, touting the team's toughness in coming back from a 0-3 start to make the playoffs where Oxford defeated rival Clarkston.
By late Wednesday, more than 70,000 people had signed an online petition to rename the school's football stadium in his honor.
Aspiring artist
Madisyn Baldwin was described by Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald as "a talented artist and a big sister." Friends posted online tributes touting her abilities.
"This beautiful, smart, sweet loving girl was tragically taken from us all today leaving a huge hole in all of our hearts and" lives, her grandmother, Jennifer Graves Mosqueda, wrote in a public post on the online fundraising site GoFundMe.com.
The Free Press confirmed the account.
Pastor Liz Wilson from the Immanuel Congregational United Church of Christ in the Village of Oxford said she spoke to Baldwin’s grandmother, a member of the congregation, on Tuesday night and has offered to provide support to the community in the wake of the shooting.
“I may have to do a funeral and that’s the worst nightmare in the world,” she said.
Wilson was an elementary schoolteacher in Oxford for 36 years before she became a pastor.
“Oxford has always had a feeling that they are apart from the rest of the world and nothing’s going to happen,” she said. “I always knew something was going to happen. It’s just a sitting duck for something awful.”
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Wilson said her grandson, a sophomore at the high school, was in the building when the shooting occurred. She said her grandson’s best friend “was almost coming apart” because he couldn’t find her grandson. “They met in the parking lot and I have never seen a kid squeeze another kid that hard,” she said.
'Most joyful kids'
In announcing charges against the suspect, McDonald said Wednesday she had spoken with the fathers of two of the teens who had died. And one of them, McDonald said, wanted people to know that his 14-year-old daughter, Hana St. Juliana, “was one of the happiest and most joyful kids.”
Reached at his Brandon Township home, Steven St. Juliana said he was not up to speaking with the Free Press and referred a reporter to a friend in the neighborhood, Jennifer Curtis.
Curtis said Hana was “kind, gentle and generous, really one of the best kids we’ve ever known. She was a special kid, always willing to help.”
She said she and her husband are both educators, and that Hana was a good student and “a joy to have in the classroom.”
“She was a good kid who wanted to the right thing and be a good person,” Curtis said.
“She always had kind words to say about people” and did not engage in negative talk, Curtis said.
Hana was on the basketball and volleyball teams at Oxford High, and she loved learning how to cook, Curtis said.
Curtis said the two families became close as their children attended school together for years. She said the families enjoyed sports together, vacationed together, and trick-or-treated together. Their lives, she said, were intertwined in many ways.
Two sisters who were playing in the neighborhood Wednesday afternoon said they knew Hana, who was older than them. One said she had the biggest heart, the other said she was a caring person and “when someone wanted to play, she would always volunteer.“
Their father, who declined to give his name, said Hana was “a really sweet girl. … She was awesome, a great girl.”
Golf and bowling
Justin Shilling played on Oxford's golf team and also was a member of the bowling team, where he carried a 161 average, according to Mhsbowling.com.
Last season, Justin won 32 games, lost five and tied one, according to the records.
Justin worked at the Lake Orion location of Anita's Kitchen, a Middle Eastern restaurant.
"We’ve just learned of the passing of one of our bright, young Lake Orion employees, Justin Shilling, in relation to the tragic events that took place at Oxford High School yesterday," the company posted on its Facebook page. "Justin was an exemplary employee, a devoted friend and co-worker, co-captain of his bowling team, and simply a pleasure to be around. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time."
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Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. On Twitter @jwisely