SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night at Oakes Field in South Charleston for a young man who was fatally shot there last week.
After a fight led to gunfire at the field early last Wednesday morning, 20-year-old Dylan Bailey was killed. The vigil was organized by his girlfriend, Amber Estep, who said she first met Bailey working at the Speedway nearby.
“He was always laughing, that’s for sure,” Estep said of Bailey. “He was a very spontaneous person. He loved everybody and everybody around him. He’d try to make friends with absolutely anybody.”
Estep said Bailey loved football, and loved the color red in part because of his favorite teams.
“He was a good person that loved football more than anything in this world. Ohio State was his team. He loved the Chicago Bulls,” she said. “His favorite color is red, and he liked to see people laugh. If (you) were in a bad mood, he’d try to get you out of that bad mood as quick as possible.”
Red balloons were brought to the vigil as well as many white candles. Estep said she planned the event to remember Dylan Bailey for the good person he was.
“He meant a lot to everybody, and we all wanted to just gather around today to remember the good times we had with Dylan; not the bad; not what happened. We want to remember everything good about him. This is a way to keep him with everybody.”
De’Antony Thornabar, 21, of South Charleston, is charged with murder in the fatal shooting, which allegedly began over a woman.
Bailey died of his injuries later that morning.