The name Chadrick Boone, the victim of Saturday morning's Winchester Road homicide, unfortunately wrung a bell for the coach of Lafayette High School’s boys basketball teams.
“It’s a shame because I said there’s another one,” coach Vince Sanford told LEX 18
He explained Boone, who would have attended the school more than a decade ago, was just the latest in a line of homicide victims who have come through the school. One of the most recent was Elaina Mammen, who was just 19 when she was gunned down in December 2022.
Members of Elaina’s family were at the high school on Saturday, speaking with people who were attending the Jock Sutherland basketball tournament. They talked to them about important lessons from Elaina’s life.
“Just to love like Elaina, to pay it forward with an act of kindness,” said Elaina’s sister Aurora Clayton.
The booth they had set up was part of the family’s “Go Light Your World Project.” The project sponsored the tournament.
Players wore the names of homicide victims on their backs.
The project focuses on mental health and kindness. The tournament was a perfect fit for the project in large part due to the work of the coach.
“I try to help these kids, and I try to help them, with the decisions they make,” Sanford said.
He knows their students have not just become victims.
“We've had kids here at Lafayette who've held the guns,” he said.
He’s an instructor at the school's “safe” room, where he says students go after making bad decisions. He tells them that while making a bad decision does not make them a bad person, it’s important they stop making those choices before it is too late.
“I try to make them understand that we only have one life and you want to take advantage of the life you have and the people you live with,” Sanford said.
To do that, he teaches a critical lesson to both them and his players.
“I tell them if you know someone who is going down that direction to try and talk to them,” Sanford said. “A lot of these thing happen because people don't realize that have someone out there to help them, they feel alone.”
Players told us that resonates with them, saying they know they can go to someone for help if they are dealing with something.
“I just want to do my part and hopefully save a life,” Sanford said.
