POUGHKEEPSIE – Hundreds of students, teachers, teammates, family
members, friends and other members of the community gathered Tuesday to
celebrate the life and mourn the death of 18-year-old Poughkeepsie High
School basketball star Caval Haylett Jr.
He was tragically gunned down following the Dutchess County Basketball
Coaches Association Exceptional Senior Game last Wednesday.
So many people came to the Beth-El Church of God in Christ for the services
that many of them had to wait outside, some of them displaying custom
made T-shirts with Haylett Jr.’s name and jersey number –
5. There, a childhood friend of Haylett Jr., Azhane Davis, shared her
feelings on his passing.
“You know, this is real emotional for me and it’s sad. My
condolences go out to his family, especially his mother and his brothers
and sisters; it’s only right but, I feel like something has to stop
here. This is getting too out of hand; they took it too far. He didn’t
deserve that. It’s too much. Nobody should have to bury their child
that’s going to college and has a future for their self,”
said Davis.
Haylett Jr.’s uncle Compton echoed his frustrations about Haylett
Jr.’s loss and the type of person he was.
“He was an NBA all-star, All American, a grade-A student. A stray
bullet took his life,” said Compton. “All lives matter. All
lives matter, not just black lives, all lives matter.”
Haylett Jr. was more than just an honor roll student and star athlete,
according to his family. His brother, Trevor Johnson, said he was also
known to be very kind and had great pride in his community. This, Johnson
said, is what he hopes Haylett Jr. will be remembered for.
“What people should remember about is his personality, a very caring
person, family oriented, athletic; his character really speaks for itself.
I mean, he always would bring… bring the best out of people, always
looking to make people laugh and then for the city, he’s a basketball
star and he wanted to put on for the city and that’s all he ever
talked about. He wanted to do bigger and better things and move on,”
said Johnson.
Unfortunately, Haylett Jr. will not move on, leaving many who knew him
feeling robbed of a better future; one he would have been a part of.
The shooter who took Haylett Jr.’s life has still not been identified.
City of Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert Rolison said because of that, the community
needs to stand up in honor of the young man and his family.
“When you know about something, you need to say about something.
You need to report evil doers. You cannot stand by idly as individuals,
hurt our community and hurt our children,” said the mayor. “Only
collectively, as a community coming together, with that one message, that
one purpose, to make this a safer community to live in so we don’t
have any more Caval Haylett Jr.s losing their lives so tragically. To
love one another, to respect one another but, say no to the violence and
do something about it. Stand up; stand up for this young man and his family
because that is the right thing to do.”
A Go Fund Me page, set up by one of Haylett Jr.’s teammate’s
parents Sean Simmons on behalf of the Poughkeepsie Basketball Project,
raised money for the family but, has since been closed. The Poughkeepsie
Basketball Project plans to have another fund-raiser in Haylett Jr.’s
memory in the near future.
Haylett is survived by his parents, Caval Haylett, Sr. and Cathis Johnson,
a number of brothers and sisters, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents,
aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, as well as an entire community with many
friends within it.
