Now police in Brooklyn are searching for his killer.
There never should have been candles for Jason Henry.
The flowers and the balloons for him were supposed to wait until May when he graduated college.
He grew up in a tough and violent neighborhood, but had never been in trouble and he was three months away from a future as bright as any could be.
"This is a high character guy he was most definitely a top notch person. I'm speechless," said Christian Burnett, the victim's friend.
21-year-old Jason Henry was a senior at Long Island University.
Wednesday night he was called to help a friend who was in a dispute that he had nothing to do with.
Within seconds a gun was pulled, shots fired, and Henry was hit twice.
No one has been arrested.
"I'm really sad and I hope whoever killed my cousin just comes forward and just admit that you did kill him," said Tiffany Zachary, the victim's cousin.
"Jason was a great kid. He was an individual who was career oriented, well rounded, came from a great family, he was level headed," said Keyshawn Browne, the victim's cousin said.
Some in the community say the murder shows the need for a real crackdown on handgun violence.
"We have to show them that we're not playing. You talk about having tough laws, but if your laws have no meat to them, everybody keeps getting shot at," said Tony Herbert, a community activist.
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