This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2025/09/18/at-vigil-shot-milwaukee-child-deon-mister-sargent-remembered/86210936007/
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
Football teammates of Deon Sargent launch balloons in memorial of 11-year-old
A memorial and balloon launch for 11-year-old Deon “Mister” Sargent was held on Sept. 17. Football teammates did a name out forward of the discharge.
Moments earlier than balloons had been launched at a vigil for Deon “Mister” Sargent, teammates of his soccer crew shouted out as if it was earlier than a high-stakes match.
“Can’t be beat,” they known as out. It repeated. “Won’t be beat.” That repeated, too. Soon after, a flood of silver and inexperienced balloons had been launched to a refrain of cheers.
On Sept. 17, dozens gathered to recollect the 11-year-old boy who was shot and killed the day earlier than. The giant crowd was crammed with teammates of Deon’s soccer crew, the CLE Panthers, the mother and father and others who got here to recollect the kid.
“A fun, loving person,” Canience Haynes mentioned of how her cousin Deon must be remembered. “The biggest smile.”
Deon was a part of a tight-knit household, Haynes mentioned. She, Deon’s mom and his aunt had been pregnant on the similar time and their kids had been shut. Deon was the protector of the household and cherished to show everybody the most recent TikTok dance or his cousins learn how to do a backflip.
It’s not the primary time the household has skilled tragedy like this.
Deon’s aunt, Brenisha Butcher, was killed in a March taking pictures that additionally injured his mom. The household remembered Butcher on the six-month anniversary of her demise lately, Haynes mentioned.
“This is a hurtful feeling, but we always come together,” Haynes mentioned. “We cry together, we laugh together, we share memories together. We’re going to share memories together.”
After the balloons had been launched on the vigil, Deon’s teammates remained huddled collectively, arms locked round each other they usually shaped a close-knit circle. For some, tears stained their faces. Each wore their Panthers jerseys.
Corey Collins, or Coach C as he was identified to the gamers, coached Deon. He mentioned Deon stood out immediately along with his energetic nature and his love for the sport. The coach and participant usually bought into it, however that was an indication of an excellent participant, he mentioned.
“His dedication got him very argumentative sometimes, very passionate,” Collins mentioned. “He stood out.”
Collins and different coaches at the moment are discovering methods to speak to their gamers about what occurred.
“Right now, all that we can tell them is keep their head up,” he mentioned. “We can’t stop life.”
Mason Brooks, certainly one of Deon’s teammates, knew Deon since he was 8 and the 2 had been shut. He cherished to crack jokes, Brooks mentioned, and different gamers remembered him for his enjoyable antics on the sector.
That was obvious when, in a single sport, the Panthers had been profitable by 40 and Deon took his helmet off and started to bop on the sector.
But maybe most of all, they remembered final season’s championship soccer sport. Deon caught one of many touchdowns in a good sport that the Panthers gained. One participant reenacted how Deon caught the ball cleanly.
“He was a good player,” Brooks mentioned.
A toddler arrested in taking pictures of Deon, mayor calls for fogeys to do extra
The vigil occurred close to the positioning of Deon’s taking pictures, on the 5500 block of North 68th Street. The taking pictures was the results of a theft and a 13-year-old was arrested following, the Milwaukee Police Department mentioned in an announcement.
The two kids had a “tussle” over a gun, which led to Sargent being shot, Mayor Cavalier Johnson mentioned at a Sept. 17 information convention.
The household is aware of solely what officers have mentioned publicly, Haynes mentioned. They stay ready for extra info.
The taking pictures prompted officers to strike a well-known line in shootings involving kids like Deon’s: mother and father want to ensure weapons are locked up and never accessible to children.
The taking pictures irked Johnson and he known as on mother and father to do extra to cease shootings like these.
But he famous one other grim element that upset him — the taking pictures occurred close to the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center. That’s a company that provides out gun locks free of charge.
“There is no reason at all, zero, that a person, a kid, that young, should get access to a gun in the city of Milwaukee,” Johnson mentioned. “This should not happen. It is entirely preventable.”
Haynes known as for fogeys to take a better position in monitoring their children and he or she known as unsecured firearms the “biggest problem.”
“If you have firearms, lock them up,” she mentioned.
David Clarey is a public security reporter on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He may be reached at [email protected].
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2025/09/18/at-vigil-shot-milwaukee-child-deon-mister-sargent-remembered/86210936007/
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
