Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 23, 2008 16:11:29 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/166/story/502243.html
KU’s Stewart, Jackson lose family members in shootings
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
STILLWATER, Okla. | The Kansas men’s basketball team will be playing with heavy hearts today. Two seniors — Rodrick Stewart and Darnell Jackson — lost family members to shooting deaths this week.
Stewart’s cousin and adopted brother, Allen, 21, was murdered on Wednesday in Seattle. Jackson’s cousin, 19-year-old Kascey Corie McClellan, also died on Wednesday from gunshot wounds sustained last week at an Oklahoma City nightclub.
Allen Stewart was sitting at a stoplight alone on Wednesday night when a man pulled up next to him and opened fire. The Stewart family adopted Allen when he was a sixth-grader. His mother had been in prison since he was 4 and his father was absent, so the Stewarts made him their sixth child. He graduated high school the same year as Rodrick.
“It’s tough for (Rodrick),” said Bull Stewart, Rodrick’s father. “He wanted to come (home) immediately, but I told him there was nothing he could do here right now.”
Stewart will fly to Seattle after today’s game. The funeral is set for Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., so Stewart will miss Kansas’ game against Iowa State later that night.
For Jackson, McClellan’s death is just the latest tragedy to befall his family. Jackson already lost his grandmother, Evon, in a 2005 car accident. His uncle was beaten to death with a hammer. McClellan is the second cousin that he’s lost in a shooting.
“He’s keeping it together,” said Shawn Jackson, Darnell’s mother. “The family is trying to be really positive for him.”
Thirty or so friends and family of Jackson’s will be at today’s game to support him. The family is trying to schedule the funeral around Jackson’s basketball obligations. It will likely be Tuesday.
KU’s Stewart, Jackson lose family members in shootings
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
STILLWATER, Okla. | The Kansas men’s basketball team will be playing with heavy hearts today. Two seniors — Rodrick Stewart and Darnell Jackson — lost family members to shooting deaths this week.
Stewart’s cousin and adopted brother, Allen, 21, was murdered on Wednesday in Seattle. Jackson’s cousin, 19-year-old Kascey Corie McClellan, also died on Wednesday from gunshot wounds sustained last week at an Oklahoma City nightclub.
Allen Stewart was sitting at a stoplight alone on Wednesday night when a man pulled up next to him and opened fire. The Stewart family adopted Allen when he was a sixth-grader. His mother had been in prison since he was 4 and his father was absent, so the Stewarts made him their sixth child. He graduated high school the same year as Rodrick.
“It’s tough for (Rodrick),” said Bull Stewart, Rodrick’s father. “He wanted to come (home) immediately, but I told him there was nothing he could do here right now.”
Stewart will fly to Seattle after today’s game. The funeral is set for Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., so Stewart will miss Kansas’ game against Iowa State later that night.
For Jackson, McClellan’s death is just the latest tragedy to befall his family. Jackson already lost his grandmother, Evon, in a 2005 car accident. His uncle was beaten to death with a hammer. McClellan is the second cousin that he’s lost in a shooting.
“He’s keeping it together,” said Shawn Jackson, Darnell’s mother. “The family is trying to be really positive for him.”
Thirty or so friends and family of Jackson’s will be at today’s game to support him. The family is trying to schedule the funeral around Jackson’s basketball obligations. It will likely be Tuesday.