At vigil, people remember two high school football players killed in car crash

Wicker Perlis, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·4 min read

Hundreds of people gathered in the courtyard outside of Germantown High School on Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil to mourn the loss of Tyrese Hoskin, a 17-year-old Germantown student and football player who died in a car crash early Monday morning.

Many of the people were dressed in the gold and scarlet colors of Germantown and were joined by dozens of mourners wearing the blue and orange of crosstown rival Madison Central, whose community also lost a student and football player in the crash, 15-year-old Armond Littleton.

The two school communities that are often rivals on sports fields and courts find themselves united in mourning over the deaths of two student athletes just days before the beginning of the school year.

The vigil was organized by Germantown Senior Class President Jayden Manning, who played football with Tyrese and had known him since they were in the sixth grade.

Manning said he first heard about the accident at practice on Monday.

"This could be anybody," Manning said of the crash and added that the community needed an event such as Tuesday night's vigil.

Tyrese's father, Taryl Hoskin, said his son would have been happy to see all of the people who came to the vigil.

"It was overwhelming just to see the amount of people that support him, and it lifted a burden off of my shoulders. I couldn't even be sad," Taryl Hoskin said. "He’s smiling down right now because he loves that attention, and all these people, classmates, friends and family that came from far and near, that would have just made him just feel like he was on top of the world."

Tyrese Hoskin's father Tayrl Hoskin, center, was overwhelmed by the support and comfort shown to him and his family during a vigil at Germantown High School in Madison, Miss., Tuesday evening, August 2, 2022.. Tyrese Hoskin, 17, a student at Germantown High, and Armond Littleton, 15, a student at Madison-Central, died early Monday morning in a single-vehicle accident in Madison County.

Tyrese's aunt, Jessica Griffin, said many people in the community knew Tyrese for his love of riding horses. Once, she said, when he missed the bus Tyrese rode his horse to school.

Griffin said she had recently bought school supplies for her nephew, who dreamed of attending Mississippi State University.

"Tyrese had so much more of his life to live," Griffin said. "I cried and I cried."

Johnathan Pettus said Tyrese was his "right hand man."

"Me and him were like brothers; we did everything together," Pettus said.

Taryl Hoskin said Tyrese's impact would continue through his friends.

"I know that his legacy is going to live forever through these guys," Taryl Hoskin said.

Tempie Stevenson, center right, of Madison, Miss., grandmother of Tyrese Hoskin, wipes tears as her daughter Jessica Stevenson Griffin, left, of Madison speaks about her nephew during a vigil at Germantown High School in Madison Tuesday evening Aug. 2, 2022.. Hoskin, 17, and Armond Littleton, 15, died early Monday morning in a single-car accident in Madison County.

A number of local faith leaders joined family and friends of Hoskin in speaking to the crowd.

"We come here tonight as different races, from different socio-economic backgrounds, and maybe from very different upbringings, but we're all here tonight united," said Luke Comfort, student pastor at Grace Crossing Church in Canton in a prayer. "Father, I pray that this community leans on each other."

Calvin Waddy Jr. is lead pastor at Central Community Church of God in Jackson, and he also works with students at Germantown Middle School through a mentorship program.

"We needed to gather together to share the sorrow together because there is strength in that," Waddy said.

Alan Loving, student and families pastor at First Baptist Madison, said his daughter ran track with Armond Littleton, the other student who died in the Monday crash.

"Y'all, look, this is a sad day," Loving said. "Ty and Armond affected y'all's lives. You affected their lives."

Some of those impacted by Littleton were Kyce Merritt and Jordan McCullough, who played football with him at Madison Central and they attended the vigil together.

"We've been cool all of our life," Merritt said of Littleton, adding that they would regularly spend the night at each other's houses.

McCullough said Littleton was "like family."

"He was always happy," McCullough said.

Loving also mentioned the death of another high school student who died Monday, a football player in Brandon, and prayed for that family and community as well.

"There's a bunch of folks in Brandon that would have never thought that guy would have dropped dead on the football field," Loving said.

Loving, using the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, said that God can use tragedy.

"God's glory can come out of this. Good can come out of this," Loving said.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Communities mourn Madison County high school students killed in crash