‘We need to be yelling ‘Kids’ Lives Matter!’ 12-year-old boy mourned in Durham.

Tyvien McLean was everybody’s friend and the life of every party, especially his birthday parties, his godmother said.

The Lowe’s Grove Middle School student was at a party in the Cornwallis Road community one week ago when a bullet from two groups shooting at each other in the street came through a second-floor window. He died five day later.

The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham held a vigil for Tyvien in downtown Durham on Wednesday night. At least 50 people gathered with balloons, wearing T-shirts that said “Stop shooting. Start living.” Tyvien’s mother, Tamecia McLean, wore a T-shirt with a picture of her son.

“If he meets any one of you guys, guess what? He’s your friend.” she said. “He can just meet you and say, ‘That’s my friend, Mom.’”

McLean struggled to speak, but when she did, she was upbeat.

“Long live, Ty,” she cheered with a smile on her face.

Tyvien was at a birthday party July 15 when he was shot in the public housing complex on East Weaver Street.

The bullet struck him in the head, and he was put on life support, his maternal aunt Danielle McLean told The News & Observer.

“A child should never be involved with gun violence,” said his godmother, Coretta Saunders, at Wednesday’s vigil.

Saunders knew Tyvien since he was born. She flew from Greensboro, where she was in school, to get to the hospital to be with her best friend while she gave birth to him.

“Ty came in this world with laughter, and he left the world with laughter,” she said. “He was playing when this happened.

“Ty is going to flip, he’s going to run around, he’s going to say something funny. That’s what I mean by life of the party,” Saunders said.

Jeff Simmons, who runs Dream Achievers Youth Organization, knew Tyvien since he was 5 years old.

“This is one of my favorite kids,” Simmons said. “I’ve got two kids of my own. That was my son’s best friend. How am I going to tell my son his best friend is not coming back?”

Simmons said he’s frustrated with the gun violence in the community.

“This killing’s got to stop,” Simmons said. “These kids have nothing to do with it.”

10 people shot in one night in Durham

Tyvien was a sixth-grader at Lowe’s Grove Middle School.

The night he was shot, 10 people, including two other children, ages 3 and 8, were injured by gun violence in two shooting incidents in Durham.

As of Wednesday, police had announced no arrests or said whether they had any suspects.

Saunders said she is especially frustrated because she does not allow guns in her own home.

“I am broken, I am hurt, I am livid about what happened to my godson,” she said. “All I want is justice for Ty. You can’t even be in your own home and be safe anymore.”

Saunders said children in Durham must be protected.

“If we cannot protect this generation, how are we going to have one later?” She said. “What about Ty’s life? We need to be yelling, ‘Kids’ lives matter!’”

Durham County Commissioner Brenda Howerton, who has lost two sons to gun violence, attended the vigil as a mother — and to apologize for the pain Tyvien’s family is going through.

“This community owes you better than this,” she said. “We have to show each other love.”

Tyvien’s family members held several balloons and counted to 12 — one for each year of his life. After singing a song to celebrate Tyvien’s life, they released the balloons.

As the balloons flew away, representatives from the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham left a bag of gun locks on the ground and asked people at the vigil to take them.

One balloon was moving along faster than the others. A person in the crowd pointed to the balloon and said, “That’s him, look at the fighter! Look at the fighter!”

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 8:41 AM.