Community honors 16-year-old star football player fatally shot in Newark
IRVINGTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- A community in New Jersey paid tribute to a 16-year-old star athlete from Irvington, New Jersey, who was shot and killed last week.
Hundreds gathered in Irvington to remember Ziyad Cook.
Cook was shot and killed on Brookdale Avenue in Newark last Thursday.
He is being remembered as a star football player.
Cook's mother met with his football teammates to encourage them to stay strong and thanked them for their support to her and they handed her Cook's football jersey.
"Receiving this jersey from Irvington High School meant the world to me. My son wore this jersey for 1 season, he was getting it again for his last season. This was going to be his senior year here," Ranessha Bell said.
Bell, a mother and football mom, is living with unimaginable hurt after losing her older son to tragedy.
In his 16 short years, he made an impact on those who had watched him grow.
"When you work with children, you see partnerships you see possibilities and you wish to see them at their greatest self and you push them as close to their dreams as possible," Principal Farnel Mangan said.
Last Thursday, Cook was waiting outside of his grandfather's home near Brookdale Avenue in Newark with a friend when a gunman came up and shot them both.
His 17-year-old friend survived.
Cook was pronounced dead hours later.
"Ziyad was a model student who went to class and everything you would envision a responsible, mature teenager would do going to high school. He did everything that was asked of him in class, he didn't have any issues here. Model student," Mangan said.
His mother said he was the light of her eyes and was proud of his Irvington High Blue Knights football teammates and his many other friends who she says will always be a part of her life.
"I won't miss a game and I'm gonna wear my son's jersey to every single game and I'm going to cheer them on no matter if we lose or we win I will be in the stands cheering them on," Bell said.
The school's superintendent, April Vauss, EdD, said in part in a statement about Ziyad:
"His talent and determination made him a leader among his peers, and he was admired not only for his athletic prowess but also for his kindness and compassion towards others... His infectious smile and positive energy illuminated the lives of students and staff alike."
Police are still investigating and there are no arrests in his shooting.
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