Gov. Matt Bevin proclaimed today a day of prayer in Kentucky for the shooting victims and the community of Marshall County.
A 15-year-old student, not yet identified opened fire last Tuesday on a crowd of students in the library. He killed two students and wounded several others, some severely.
Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, the 15-year-olds killed in Tuesday’s school shooting at Marshall County High School, were remembered fondly by friends and family during a joint visitation in the high school gymnasium Saturday.
Tracy Tubbs, aunt of Marshall County High School shooting victim Bailey Holt, holds up a drawing of Holt, and Jackie Reid, principal of Sharpe Elementary School speak at visitation.(Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun via KT)
Tracy Tubbs, who is Bailey’s aunt, spoke for her family and Jackie Reid, principal of Sharpe Elementary School, spoke for Cope’s family on Saturday.
“She was easy to love, and she was the salt of the earth,” Tubbs said of Bailey, who wanted to be a nurse. “This separation is merely temporary, and Bailey, your light will continue to shine as long as we have a voice.”
Reid, who works with Preston’s mother at the elementary school, spoke of Preston glowing terms.
“To hear how much Preston was loved has been such a blessing. He was caring, compassionate, had a gentle spirit and the biggest heart. We know that he is in a better place and we will see him again.”
Preston was a member of the baseball team and a Civil War buff.
The suspect in the shooting is currently in a juvenile detention facility in Paducah and appeared before a judge on Thursday in a closed hearing because of his juvenile status.
However, prosecutors say they will seek to charge him as an adult because of the crime’s severity.
He opened fire on students around 8 in the morning on Tuesday in the school commons area where students gathered before school started. Two were killed and several others were wounded or injured trying to flee the chaos.
“We have seen evil, and the face of evil as it has emerged, and the acts that evil has perpetrates in this community,” Bevin said. “But I’ll tell you what’s stronger than evil, is good. And in the end, God wins. That’s a fact. I’ll tell you what, I just encourage you to hang on strong.”
Funerals for Preston and Bailey will take place today at different locations.
From Kentucky Today’s Mark Maynard and staff report
