CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Elijha Booker did not get a chance to experience high school. He would be entering his junior year around this time.
He missed homecoming, prom and graduation. Booker had a future ahead of him, but a bullet took that opportunity way. The impact of his death hits closes to two of his teachers- Jess Brito and Brittany Sanders.
"Elijha didn't event get to experience eighth grade promotion," Sanders said. "So, Elijha missed out on a lot."
"When someone like that is ripped from the community, it hurts," said Brito, who was Booker's ELA teacher. "And there's a lasting impact."
Booker was their student at Franklin Middle School. The two educators described their 14-year-old as a "ray of sunshine." He had aspirations of being famous.
Sanders said he wanted to make music and rap. Brito said he was an artist.
"He actually won a competition in Champaign, Illinois called 'Pens to Lens' where his screen play was written into a movie," Brito explained.
Booker never got the chance to see his work on the big screen. The Champaign teen was shot and killed in 2019. Reports show the 15-year-old who shot Booker surrendered to the police.
The emotional sting of losing a student still lingers. However, the time Brito and Sanders spent with Booker is something they will cherish.
