Mourners light candles at the spot Bryant was shot and killed.
Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles published by The Apopka Voice in 2016 that were the most noteworthy events of the year. The Apopka Voice will publish them starting today and running until Friday, December 30th. During the New Year's weekend (Friday, December 30th - Sunday, January 1st) we will publish a poll and let the readers decide on which story is the most impactful of the year.
Originally Published: March 25th, 2016
Apopka Mourns the Loss of Contondre Bryant at Prayer Vigil
Apopka is burning, and it is hurting.
For several months, maybe several years or for a generation it has smoldered, but now there is a five-alarm fire raging and it's claiming lives – particularly young ones.
Three Apopka residents have been shot and killed in the last month – two of them teenagers. The most recent murder was on Monday. Contondre Bryant was gunned down in a grassy field between the fenced-in playground at Taylor Apartments and the St. Elizabeth Church of God by Faith on Old Apopka Road near 13th Street and across from a part of The West Orange Trail. According to The Orange County Sheriff’s Office, there were up to 40 witnesses, but none are cooperating with the authorities.
On the same spot Bryant was killed, his mother, Tonya English, spoke at a prayer vigil held yesterday afternoon. She talked directly to the friends of her son, a predominantly young black group of about 100 people that turned out to pay their respects.
“Ain’t nothing gangster about being dead, she said. “I don’t want to do this no more. I’m tired of the youth being killed.”
The playground at Taylor Apartments is next to the grassy area where Contondre Bryant was shot.
Despite her son’s murder only a few days ago, English spoke of hope to the teenagers and young people assembled at the gathering.
“Get your act together. When I look out at you, I don’t see thugs. I see doctors and lawyers. Stop living in a box. Obama was the first black President. You can live, and you can be anything you want.”
Bishop Kelvin Cobaris spoke about personal responsibility, but then also made a direct plea to the assembled teenagers.
“Apopka is a great place, but it’s not about Apopka,” he said. “It’s about the decisions we make. The best thing you can do for this mother (English) is to make sure your mother isn’t standing here next week.”