Funeral For Ladarious Phillips To Be Held At Handley High School
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: June 12, 2012
Just over 22,00 people call Randolph County home.
"We're all family here," said Roanoke Mayor Mike Fisher.
So imagine watching one of your
own, Ladarious Phillips, grow up before your eyes. Watching him grow
from a small child, to a father, to college student-- only to watch a
gunman take his life taken away.
"It brings total shock to your community,"
said Fisher, who coached Phillips for Pee Wee football " He had his
whole life in front of him just taken out with a gun."
In Roanoke, Phillips' hometown, everybody called the big young man with the big smile " Day-Day "
"Everybody loved Day-Day. He's come back
from auburn go to the schools and work with those students. They looked
up to him," said Handley High School principal Gregory Foster. Foster
had known Phillips since he was 5th grader.
"Always a nice, hard working guy," said Foster
"You just saw that smile and you knew a kid like that was going to do good throughout his life," said Fisher
During his young life, family and friends
says Day-Day was more than a star multi-sport athlete, but a solid
student, too. We're told he was an even better person. A young man who
died trying to break up a fight between his alleged killer and another
man.
Just Day-Day being Day-Day.
" People say ' you're in the wrong place at
the wrong time' , but personally, I think the guy who did the shooting
was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Day-Day was where he wanted
to be," said Foster.
Phillips' will be laid to rest Friday
afternoon. His funeral held at 1 PM in the gymnasium of his alma mater,
Handley High School. Visitation will be from 11-1.
" I just think it's fitting . He loved Handley high.and Handley high loved Day-Day," said Foster
