EAST POINT, Ga. — Family and friends are grieving the loss of Jaylan Major, the teen shot and killed at the East Point MARTA station last weekend.
Jaylan was 16 years old. His loved ones are now calling for a stop to youth gun violence.
Jaylan's loved ones said he was an athlete, had a big smile, and loved to make everyone laugh. And this senseless act of violence was like a gut punch to those that loved him.
Antonio Major, Jaylan's father, said Jaylan had two brothers and two sisters.
"His personality was one-of-a-kind," Antonio said. "He could walk in the room and brighten up any room."
Jaylan's mother, Deandra Simpson, said Jaylan had just started a new job at the airport. Normally, she'd drop him off herself, but, as teenagers do, he wanted to be independent and catch the train on his own that Sunday.
"I dropped him off at the train station," Simpson said, "And I said, 'Have a good day son. I'll be waiting on you to pick you up from work.' And he said, 'Ok, mom.' And that was it."
Moments later, Jaylan was killed on the platform of East Point's MARTA station. MARTA Police said the shooting happened after a disagreement with the accused shooter. Jaylan allegedly jumped in to help his friend, who was in a fight with the accused shooter. Antonio said he raised his son to protect his friends.
His former football coach, Mark Forston, is still processing the loss. He describes Jaylan as a star player.
"I was in shock, initially," Forston said. "And then, I didn't want to believe it was him. And I was hoping that it wasn't him."
Dwan Anderson also coached Jaylan. His family said Anderson was one of Jaylan's mentors. He described Jaylan as charismatic.
"Jaylan was like a family member to me. His mom, his dad-- we've done a lot of things together. We communicate all the time," Anderson said, "It really hit home with me. My heart just dropped. Everything went numb."
Jaylan was a sophomore at Tri-Cities High School. His accused shooter was only 15. Another teen was arrested in connection with the shooting as well.
Tri-Cities High Alumni President Kavon Arnold said the youth gun violence has got to stop.
"All I could think about was, that could have easily been my daughter," Arnold said. "Put the guns down. It's OK to disagree, but it's also OK to have positive conflict resolution. And I think that's what's going on with our kids, where they don't want to talk about what's going on. They just want to pick a gun up. They want to shoot. They want to fight. And then, when it's all said and done, you don't even know what you're fighting about."
No family plans to bury a 16-year-old. So, the family started an online fundraiser to help with funeral arrangements. Simpson said no parent should ever have to go through this.
"It's so much going on with our kids losing their lives," Simpson said. "Like, they're not getting the chance to live out their futures because it's just a lot of killing on killing with our young babies."
A balloon release was held Wednesday at the John D. Milner Sports Complex at Wednesday evening.