Coach recalls teen gunned down in drive-by shooting as ‘such a great kid’
Dexter L. Byrd, a teenager fatally gunned down in Cahokia on Tuesday, is being remembered as a youth who “lights up a room” whenever you would see him.
That’s how one of his assistant coaches with the Brooklyn Bulls basketball team described her memories of the teen, whose friends called him “Byrd.”
Connie Dailey, who founded the Brooklyn Bulls club, said Byrd, 19, was a member of the team for five years.
Dailey said Byrd was “such a great kid.”
“It’s been rough for us,” Dailey said Saturday.
Metro-east youths who may not be able to afford all the costs of playing for a club basketball are invited to play for the Brooklyn Bulls until they are 18. The season runs from February to August.
Dailey, of Belleville, said since Byrd had turned 19 and wasn’t eligible to play this season, she expected him to be a mentor to the younger players.
Dailey said she started the team in an effort to “keep kids off the street.”
The Brooklyn Bulls had planned a candlelight vigil for Saturday next to the home where Byrd was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting on Range Lane but Dailey said the event was canceled out of respect for Byrd’s family’s privacy at this time.
Dailey said Byrd’s mother told her that funeral services are pending. Also, Dailey said the team will scheduled a vigil for Byrd at a later date.
No arrests have been made in connection with Byrd’s death.
The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis announced Saturday that it was examining new evidence and video surveillance footage in an effort to make an arrest in Byrd’s homicide.
Police have said Byrd was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting.
Byrd was found by police officers late Tuesday in the front yard of 339 Range Lane in Cahokia with an apparent gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Byrd was taken to an area hospital, where he died.
“The Major Case Squad is continuing to follow up on leads today,” the group said in a news release issued Saturday on Twitter.
Anyone with information about Byrd’s death is asked to call the Major Case Squad at 618-332-4248 or CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS).
This was the second time the Major Case Squad has been called to investigate a homicide of a 19-year-old in Cahokia in the past six weeks.
Markell A. Deberry, 19, was fatally shot on Dec. 23 on Delores Street in Cahokia and no charges have been announced in connection with his death. Deberry was from Edwardsville but was staying with relatives on Delores Street, police said.
