‘Ja’Shawn will remain a Viking forever’: Memorial held for 16-year-old shot at Lamar High
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Lamar High School shooting
Our continued coverage of the school shooting at Arlington’s Lamar High School on March 20, 2023.
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Lamar High School held a memorial on Friday honoring 16-year-old Ja’Shawn Poirier, who was fatally shot outside the school on March 20.
“Justice for Ja’Shawn and forever 16,” the crowd chanted in unison after Roshone Jacob, Poirier’s mother, spoke at the memorial.
“The past month has been an unbelievable journey on many levels,” said Andy Hagman, Lamar High’s principal. “The sun is always there, we can always take ourselves there and it’s been hard to do this past month, but that’s the kind of thing that helps me keep moving ... is knowing there’s love. We are very blessed to experience that in this past month. It’s been truly incredible.”
The event commenced with a welcome and introduction from Hagman. He said the family wanted to wait to hold the memorial on Friday, which would have been Poirier’s 17th birthday.
“We are glad that we could hopefully provide some comfort and some solace for the family in this incredibly difficult time. Thank you for everything you’ve given to us and to the family as we remember Ja’Shawn today,” Hagman said to the attendees.
Poirier died at a hospital after being shot in the head and chest on the morning of March 20 right outside of the school by another male student who attended Lamar High. A female student was grazed on the cheek by a bullet in the shooting. The victims and the suspect were all under 17 years of age.
The 15-year-old student accused of shooting Poirier is being held in the Tarrant County juvenile detention center and is facing a capital murder charge.
“On behalf of the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees, we want you to know that we share in your heartbreak. What happened to Ja’Shawn should never happen to any child,” said Melody Fowler, the board president of the school district. “We want his mom, Ms. Jacob, to know — and all of his friends and all of his family — that we will continue to pray for them. Ja’Shawn will remain a Viking forever in our hearts.”
Following Fowler, Solomon Adair, the pastor at Inspired to Live Church, gave a prayer. After Lamar High staff displayed the last piece of artwork that Poirier made, his mother spoke.
“March 20th was the worst day of my life. Never in a million years did I think this would happen to me,” Jacob said. “You see it on TV all the time, but when it hits home it’s a different story. So now is my time to speak and be Ja’Shawn’s voice. As he’d want the gun violence to stop — we all have to come together and stand as one and let our voices be heard. Put yourself in my shoes and you would be doing the same thing by speaking up. ... Ja’Shawn didn’t deserve this at all, and he has one fight he left behind him and I’m going to fight until justice is served.”
The memorial finished with the singing of “Amazing Grace” and a release of green balloons, remembering Poirier’s favorite color.
The crowd and attendees all said “happy birthday” together as Ja’Shawn’s mother and loved ones released the green balloons.
“Just remember he was a good young man and that he was loved by many. He is missed by many,” Jacob said.
“Ja’Shawn was a loving, caring person. He didn’t do nothing to make nobody mad, didn’t make nobody angry, didn’t make nobody sad,” said Dwayne Scott, a close friend and classmate of Poirier. “If you made jokes about Ja’Shawn, he’ll push it to the side and laugh at the jokes with you because he wasn’t that type of person to go around with an anger stink face and just want go fight. He was just a good person.”
Police have not publicly announced a motive for the shooting. Although, authorities have said that they discovered that the shotgun used by the accused student was owned by his father. The father was arrested and charged with felon in possession of a firearm three days after the fatal shooting at Lamar High.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not publish the names of youths accused of offenses as juveniles or the names of adults in circumstances in which publication could identify the juvenile.
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 9:57 PM.
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