‘He was the glue’: Family mourns teen shot, killed just before 17th birthday, Christmas
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Antwonne George has been clinging onto one thing over the past week: He got to tell his son he loved him before he left the house.
Avonte George, 16, was supposed to come back home and finish watching the Netflix show “You” with his step-mother so they could debrief about the episodes, like they always did.
Only this time, he didn’t.
The high school junior was shot while at a friend’s house in Independence. He was found by Independence police with gun shot injuries as officers responded to calls of a shooting in the 600 block of North Westwood Drive earlier this month.
The 16-year-old was rushed to an area hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The Jackson County Prosecutor on Friday charged a 19-year-old of involuntary manslaughter in Avonte’s death.
“There isn’t anything I didn’t love about my child” Antwonne George said. “He wasn’t a violent kid, he didn’t mess around with guns. He was always respectful to anybody, no matter who you was, because I raised him that way.”
Avonte had aspirations of playing on the high school basketball team if not for his asthma. When his mother died of breast cancer,he turned his attention to helping his family, promising he’d try out for the team next year — he also loved playing video games.
The sixth of 13 children, “he was the glue, he was the glue for my kids,” his father said.
From Sunday dinners and caring for his siblings, to being the strength for the family after his mother’s death in April, he was selflessly present for anyone who needed him, George said.
Sunday dinners didn’t start until Avonte was there, he said, and he made sure he was always there first. He helped cook – his specialty being burgers and fries – he helped clean, and he watched over his siblings “like a hawk.”
Whenever he was around his younger siblings, he wasn’t a teenager but a “goofy” brother who joined in their games.
“You know, he’s taller than me and he would go get on his little brothers’ scooters and try to ride their scooters and try to ride the skateboard and stuff,” George said. “He was a kid. He always got on the trampoline with the kids and played games with his brothers and sisters. He had nothing but love and respect.”
“Fats,” as his family affectionately called him because he ate everything as a baby, was especially close to his younger sister, Adrionna, his father said. Not even a year apart, the siblings were best friends.
The family nicknamed her “Fatty.”
“It’s hard – she’s hurt really bad. Everybody is hurting right now,” George said.
In times of family tragedy, Avonte was the one who helped the family get through things, he said.
Now, his family has to navigate without him.
“My child’s birthday is the 23rd of this month and it’s like how do you continue with Christmas,” George asked, holding back tears.
He was always a happy kid growing up, George said, and he was loved by everybody at school.
“It makes no sense he’s gone.”
Services for Avonte will be held on Dec. 30 at Clarke and Sons Funeral Home at 3449 Indiana Ave. Donations can be made to the Avonte George Memorial Fund by contacting the funeral home at 816-800-4148
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 9:01 AM.
