VAIL, Ariz. (KGUN) — As Saturday turned into Sunday a few days ago, Daydrian Brown, 15, was shot and killed at a Midtown house party.
“If he met you and he clicked with you, then you were probably going to be one of his good friends,” his father, Rene Guevara, said about his son.
At a memorial on Monday at Cienega High School, where Brown attended, his family gave speeches thanking the roughly 200 people who attended. They also prayed.
“That meant a lot to me and I know it would mean a lot to Daydrian,” Guevara said about the crowd size.
Both of the teams Brown played on, the Vail Soccer Club and FC Tucson’s youth boys teams were in attendance. It was something that Guevara said was special.
“You usually don’t see teams from two different clubs just connecting and hanging out in remembrance of somebody,” he said.
Brown started playing soccer at a young age, Guevara said, playing forward with the Vail Soccer Club, and then going to FC Tucson’s youth team and joining their boys team.
“Just going from a very recreational low level to traveling at a high level,” Guevara said.
Just this past weekend he said Daydrian played in Seattle in the national playoffs for FC Tucson.
“It was just great to be a part of the journey with him. I would always tell him that,” he said.
On Monday a lot of people at the vigil wore green, the color of the Vail Soccer Club team.
“He just brought an energy to the pitch. Give him a soccer ball and he wanted to shoot and score and find the ways to score and get his team up,” Gabriel Rios, a coach with the Vail Soccer Club team said.
He played for Arizona’s Olympic Development Program and his coaches said he tried out for their regional team.
“He embraced everything that we encourage in soccer culture: creativity, enjoying the game, having a passion about the game,” Jarrett Galigher, another Vail Soccer Club coach said.
Guevara feels like the legacy his son is leaving behind is one that will stick with his teammates and future generations.
“They’re going to go out and say if it wasn’t hard for him, and he just puts in the work, then I can do it too, and that’s what I want the legacy of Daydrian to leave behind, is anything is possible for anybody," he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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