Seawright Family: Evil won’t take away joy after son killed by gun violence

The father of Bobby Jerome Seawright Jr., who was shot dead early Saturday said the family won’t let evil take away the joy they had during the 25 years he was alive.

“I’m not going to let anybody take the joy we have for our son away,” Bobby Seawright Sr. said with mother Angela Seawright by his side. “We are going to still love him just as much, we are still going to laugh and joke, but he might not be in the room. We know some of the things he would have done if he were there.”

The Seawrights joined more than 130 former students, teachers and friends in front of Columbus High School on Wednesday evening for a candlelight tribute to Bobby Seawright. He was described as one with a infectious smile and would always help people in any way he could.

Seawright was killed after dropping off a friend at the intersection of Branton Woods Drive and Branton Lane. The vigil was held just hours after police detectives spent part of the day walking door to door, talking to residents for leads on a possible shooting suspect, said Police Maj. Gil Slouchick of the Investigative Services Bureau. Police have released a video of a man seen in the area about the time of the shooting.

“Nothing has come up,” he said. “ I just thought someone would know him from out there.”

Police have no motive in the case as the investigation continues.

Bobby Sr. called on all of his son’s friends or anyone who might know something to come forward.

“We are going to let justice do its part,” he said. “I think somebody somewhere is going to open their heart up and tell what they’ve seen. They are going to be careful about what they saw. If this guy is with you and he knows what he did and guess what, you could become a statistic, too.”

The father said his son never had an argument or debated with them about anything.

“There was nothing he wouldn’t do for someone,” he said. “There was nothing he would not do to help someone. He was always a joy, but he was just a straight-up young man.”

Azaius Page recalled the first time the two met on the basketball courts at Columbus, and Bobby whipped him.

“He was clowning on me a week after that,” he said. “Ever since then, it was crazy how we just linked up. We’ve just been through so much together. I looked at him as a brother. We hung out all the time and hung together.”

Page said he didn’t talk to many people at first, but Bobby was one of the first. “I just became cool with him,” he said. “I knew he was going to be a friend for life.”

Zach McConnell said he and Bobby, who he described as “entertaining,” went to Georgia Southern together after graduating from Columbus. McConnell said he majored in biology while Bobby was studying sports medicine.

McConnell said he was in total disbelief after receiving a phone call about the shooting.

“I was just like, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “I hung up the phone and went back to sleep and woke up. It kind of started sinking in.”

Lendon Alexander said he’s hurt, and his heart is numb, because Bobby isn’t the first friend he has lost to gun violence this year. “It’s been more than just him, so I know he wouldn’t want me to continue to be sad forever,” he said. “He was a person who I never had a sad moment around. I know it will get better. I just want justice for him and justice for his family.”

Carol Wingard, an African-American studies teacher, had Bobby in her senior class in 2009. “He was always smiling,” she said. “ I mean he would come into the room with a smile and he would welcome people. He was so friendly. He was just light to everybody. That’s not common in every teenager, but he was just a young man of faith, and he talked about his faith.”

Marcie Mitchell, a humanities teacher, said Bobby was well liked. “You just would never meet a nicer young man,” she said.

Police are looking for a man described as black between the ages of 19 and 30. Standing about 5-foot-8, weighing 150 to 180 pounds, he was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Seawright Family: Evil won’t take away joy after son killed by gun violence."