School Hosts Vigil to Mourn Student’s Death

JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ)- Parents and students are mourning the death of an East Jessamine County High School student Friday night after police say he was shot to death by a fellow student.

Nicholasville police say 15-year-old Leo Travers was found shot in the road on Garden Park Drive around 7:30 Thursday night.

18-year-old Tyler Jeffers has been charged with murder and Jeffers’ grandfather Albert McKinney has been charged with tampering with physical evidence.

East Jessamine County High School hosted a vigil for students in their gymnasium Friday night where hundreds of parents and students packed in to grieve the loss of their peer.

Classmates held hands and wiped away tears at Friday night’s vigil as they tried to process the news that Travers had been killed.

“Well I think it’s a place for them all to come corporately together, join together, knit together in their pain and some misunderstanding,” said Chuck Ross, a speaker at the vigil.

Much of that misunderstanding coming from the fact that police say the shooter was a fellow high school student, something school officials say makes it even more devastating.

“Last night two people’s lives were lost and two families were impacted for the remainder of their lives and of course that’s a very far reaching, has a far reaching effect as well,” said Kathy Fields, superintendent of Jessamine County Schools.

For the Travers family, they are taking comfort in the kind words people had to say about Leo.

“If you talk to the people who taught him, if you talked to the people who coached him, I think you get the same answer. They respect him and liked him and thought he was a thoughtful kid,” said Robert Travers, Leo Travers grandfather.

For the rest of the community, they hope to find some good in the wake of this tragedy.

“Just think about the short amount of time we have on this earth. We don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring and just want to make sure that eternally we are set and ready to roll,” said Ross.

Grief counselors were on hand for students at several Jessamine County Schools Friday.

Jeffers and McKinney are scheduled to be in court on Tuesday.