LOWELL — Tons of people cried, embraced and sent balloons skyward Thursday evening at the Christian Hill reservoir in Lowell, all remembering a bright, adventurous soul.
Just 19 hours earlier, police were notified that 17-year-old Cole Kinney was shot and killed in Derry, N.H.
New Hampshire authorities have said little about the slaying of Kinney, who was to be a senior at Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsboro this fall.
At the vigil, about 70 to 100 people remembered a polite, smiling athlete who they said would do anything for others.
Kinney’s father, Dennis, cried as he tried to thank and hug the many people who attended the vigil. Some broke down in his arms.
“It’s hard, it’s just really hard,” he told one of those gathered.
He was too upset to speak with The Sun.
Kinney spent years boxing at the West End Gym in Lowell and had just started playing high school football.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, along with state and local police, are investigating the homicide and believe it involved multiple people. They did not identify the victim or where he was shot, but multiple social-media posts and his family identified Kinney as the victim.
Derry police responded to a 911 call about 11:19 p.m. on Wednesday on North Shore Road, where they found a deceased male who appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound.
WMUR TV reported that a neighbor, Curtis Lonergan, went to help Kinney after he had been shot.
“He had the bullet wound right here in the heart,” Lonergan told WMUR. “I could just tell from where he was shot, he was gone already.”
Kinney’s sudden death came as a shock to friends, who poured support over social media throughout the day Thursday.
Gym operator Joey Ramalho trained Kinney for four years, part of a group known as the “A Team” that became like a tight-knit family.
He said Kinney was humble, generous, and “would give you the shirt off his back.”
“He was a great fighter too, really good reflexes,” Ramalho said.
He remembers taking Kinney and others camping near Canada.
“He was the type of kid that just appreciated nature, the beautiful things in life,” Ramalho said. “He would actually tell you to put your phone down.”
Dominic Lessieur, who was on the “A Team” with Kinney, said Kinney would always put others before himself.
“He’d always do stuff for people and that’s what everybody appreciated about him,” he said. “He was such a great, genuine person. And his smile could make anybody in the world smile.”
He remembers cliff jumping with Kinney while they were camping together, and said Kinney would try anything.
“We went on a really high cliff and he didn’t think twice, didn’t look back, just jumped right into the water,” he said. “He was one of the bravest people I know.”
Patty Tanguay-Herlihy said she’s known Kinney for about six years. She first met him at the gym where she’s known as the team mom.
“Everybody loved him. If you were having a rough day, he’d make you smile,” Tanguay-Herlihy said. “There’s so much love and support. As you can see he was very much loved.”
Tanguay-Herlihy, brought most of the balloons to the vigil held in Kinney’s honor.
At The Club-Fitness, where employees say Kinney regularly worked out, he was remembered as “a sweet kid with an infectious smile.”
“It’s one of those things where it just doesn’t make any sense,” said membership director Serina Ryder.
She remembers joking with Kinney about age — he told her he was turning 18 soon, just as she was turning 44.
“I said, ‘You have a very long way to get there.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you could be my mom,'” she remembers. “It’s just ironic I was giving him advice about having such a long life ahead of him, and now he doesn’t.”
Kinney’s sister, Tayla Leigh Kinney, set up a GoFundMe Page for funeral costs that had raised nearly $12,000 by 5 p.m.
“My brother was murdered. This is the worst day of my life. This world that we live in is CRUEL,” she wrote on the page. “The amount of pain and suffering my family is going through at this time is unbearable.”
Greater Lowell Tech Superintendent Roger Bourgeois said Kinney was a student in the electrical program and a member of the football team.
“Words can not adequately express the level of loss, grief, and sorrow that we feel today,” he said in an email.
Football coach Shane Abrams said Kinney had a desire to learn and progress, and was a great teammate on and off the field.
“We were hoping for, expecting some good things out of him because of his dedication to (football),” he said.
Nixon Njeru of Lowell said he knew Kinney since junior high school and they played football together.
“He was that one guy you needed to complete a crew,” Njeru said at the vigil.
Others said going anywhere with Kinney was a good time and that he was the number one hype kid in the locker room.
Even those who didn’t know him long, like Kimberly O’Shea of Dracut, had positive things to say.
“I never met anyone brighter or more happy,” a teary-eyed O’Shea said at the vigil, “and he made such an impact on my life.”
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact Sgt. Brian Strong of the New Hampshire State Police at 603-223-8568 or at brian.strong@dos.nh.gov.
The GoFundMe Page is accessible at www.gofundme.com/2fnznzjs?rcid=fd2063fe4f5711e69feabc764e0525d6.
Reporter Kori Tuitt contributed to this report.
Follow Amelia on Twitter and Tout @AmeliaPakHarvey.
