Students, Family Heartbroken By Death Of Antioch Teen In Deer Valley High Shooting
ANTIOCH (KPIX 5) -- On Monday, friends and family members were trying to comprehend the violence that took the life of 16-year old Jonathan Parker, the teen who was fatally shot Friday when a fight broke out after a basketball game at Deer Valley High School in Antioch.
The flag hung at half-staff and police were present on campus. A makeshift memorial at the school paid tribute to the young man friends called John John. All day, students were in a state of shock.
"You can tell when you go on campus that something has shifted," said senior Mariah Gbilia. "It seems empty, even though everyone is here."
"I'm hurt by it. A lot of my other friends are hurt by it. He shouldn't have died that day," said Tyrone Blake, who used to play catch with Jonathan at lunch.
No officials from the school would speak about Friday night's tragedy, but in a joint Facebook statement the principal and district superintendent denounced the violence, saying, "Our children must be taught that solving disagreements with violence is not the answer and that there are other ways to resolve our differences that do not result in the unjust and unnecessary killing of our youth."
Monday evening, his family wanted the public to know that Jonathan was the victim of violence, not the cause of it.
"He wasn't a gang member," said his uncle Andres. "He wasn't in the gangs. He wasn't in none of that. So that's not what it was. He never left the house. He was always at home. This was something very new to all of us, him going to a basketball game."
Earlier in the day, Kari Dutra stopped by the memorial. She helps run a twice-monthly Christian ministry for students called "Let's Talk." Dutra says these days many kids feel empty inside.
She also said the shooting is part of a much larger problem. Lacking guidance at home, she says teens turn to each other for acceptance, sometimes bowing to peer pressure that can lead to violence.
"Parents are working their tails off and they can't be with their kids all the time. So, yeah, a lot of this is just the breakdown of the family," Dutra said. "This is what we're left with."
Family members say Jonathan wanted to be an engineer because he liked to fix and build things. They say his mother -- a single mom who lives for her children -- is having a very hard time dealing with his death.
Antioch police would not comment Monday, but the school says the investigation into the shooting is active. So far, no arrests in the case have been announced.
