Christopher Lane Update: Online donation drive raises more than $130,000 for Aussie "thrill kill" victim's family
(CBS) OKLAHOMA CITY -- An online donation drive has raised more than $130,000 to help the family of slain baseball player Christopher Lane fly to Oklahoma, bring their son's body home to his native Australia and pay for his funeral services, according to the GoFundMe.com fundraising site.
PICTURES: Australian baseball player fatally shot in Okla.
Lane, 22, was gunned down as he was jogging near his girlfriend's family's home Friday in Duncan, Oklahoma in what police described as a "thrill kill." James Francis Edwards, Jr., 15, and Chancey Luna, 16, are charged with first-degree murder in the case. Prosecutors say the 15-year-old Edwards was in the passenger seat of a car driven by Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, when Luna shot and killed Lane from the backseat.
Witnesses said Lane, who was shot in the back, fell in a ditch panting before he died.
A baseball player at East Central University, Lane, of Melbourne, had been visiting his girlfriend's family's home in Duncan, Oklahoma when he was killed. He hoped to go into real estate when he graduated.
His death drew the international spotlight after Jones allegedly told police officers the boys were "bored" and killed Lane "for fun."
A friend of Lane's,' Marshall Veal, started the GoFundMe.com online donation drive in an effort to help raise money for Lane's family, Fox News reported. Veal told Fox he received support from thousands across the world and skipped work Wednesday to respond to their messages.
As of Friday morning, the fund had garnered $133,768. The fundraising goal was $15,000.
Lane's family thanked their supporters in an online message posted on the donation site. They said the money left over after paying for their son's funeral expenses would be donated to a foundation to support organizations their son was passionate about.
"We want people to know we don't believe what happened was a reflection of the people of Duncan or Oklahoma," Lane's family wrote in the message. "Christopher was chasing his dreams and we believe everyone should do the same....Christopher would be so proud he had a made a difference in so many lives."
East Central University has also announced a fund in Lane's honor, known as the Chris Lane Memorial Fund.
"When I think about Chris Lane, I think about a young man with a kind heart and a magnetic personality," said ECU head baseball coach Dino Rosato in a statement posted on the school's website. "He was a person I wanted to be around. He was a young man with great character. I am a better man for Chris having been a part of my life."
