GASTONIA, NC – Stephanie Rhyne looks over old yearbook photos of former classmate Brandon McCall.
“He would just like, try to make you laugh. Like, he was just like, a fun guy to hang around with, talk to, and everything,” Stephanie says.
Stephanie and her mom were the first to respond after the teen crashed his car outside their house on West Garrison Boulevard Saturday night.
“My mom held his head and was like, Brandon it’s going to be ok, it’s going to be ok, that’s before we knew that he got shot,” she explains.
Police say that happened just a few hundred feet away on West Third Avenue.
“He was in shock, and I was holding his head, and he had died in my hands, while I was holding his head,” Betty Rhyne says.
Tonight – we discovered McCall does have several arrests. In July 2012, he was brought in on multiple drug charges – including felony marijuana possession with intent to sell or deliver.
Police won’t say whether his death was drug-related – but they do think McCall knew the man accused of shooting him.
Outside Hunter Huss High School.. students painted a rock in his memory.
Noah Salle also marked the parking spot McCall often used.
“He was a great person. He always had a smile on your face. He kept a smile on your face when you’re around him. He’s just the type of person you’d love to be around,” Salle says.
Stephanie and her mom say their thoughts are with McCall’s family.
“My sympathy goes out to the mom and the dad of this kid,” Betty says.
