High School Class President Shot Dead Returning From Basketball Game

Two teens have been charged in the shooting death of a 17-year-old Tennessee high school class president last week as she was headed home after a basketball game.

Christine Michael and three other teens had just left the game in Ripley on February 10 when gunfire ripped through their vehicle. The round that hit Michael came through the trunk and struck her lower back as she was seated in the back seat.

Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett Jr. said that 18-year-old Kevion Davis and 16-year-old Bishop Owens were arrested the next day and charged with first degree murder. Garrett said police also expect them to be charged with three counts of attempted murder for the other three teens in the vehicle. They’re being held without bond.

A 13-year-old girl in the vehicle was wounded, Fox News said.

Students at Haywood High School, where Michael was the junior class president and had a 4.0 grade point average, returned to class on Monday, WHBQ reported.

A statement from Haywood County Schools Superintendent Amie Marsh called Michael “a promising student who had tremendous plans for her future.” It only touched on what Michael meant to her classmates.

“I saw about 20 people in the bathroom crying about Christine talking about they about to go home,” classmate Synandiaha Welch told WHBQ. “Grade 11 is so heartbroken because that was our president. Like we looked up to her, and we don’t know what we’re supposed to do now.”

Welch said Michael’s friends are planning a memorial with everyone wearing pink — their fallen classmate’s favorite color.

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[Featured image: Christine Michael/Facebook]