Local

‘Do the right thing,’ friend of slain Carroll HS student tells people not cooperating with police

People who police say are holding back information in the fatal shooting of Carroll High School student Mackenna Kronenberger should do the right thing, one of her friends said during a memorial vigil at the school Wednesday evening.

SEE: Trending news headlines

"Do the right thing," said Kenneth Smith, a rising sophomore who has known Mackenna since they attended Eastmont (middle school) together. "Don't hold back information," he said, responding to a reporter's question. "She deserves justice for what happened to her."

RELATED: Slain Carroll HS student called 'innocent bystander'

Students, friends and well-wishers gathered at the small chapel in the school on Linden Avenue to remember 14-year-old Mackenna. Police have said she was "an innocent bystander" hit by gunfire that erupted early Wednesday as two groups fought outside a home on Morse Avenue in Dayton. Two 18-year-old males have been charged stemming from the incident.

SEE ALSO: Crime, law headlines

When he heard about the slaying, Smith said, "I didn't believe it. I never had a close friend that had something this horrible happen."

Smith said he called other friends who also knew Mackenna to share the awful news.

"We're all a close Eastmont community," he said. All of them have remained close, through texting, even though they split off to attend schools other than Carroll.

"You just don't wish that upon anyone," Smith said. "It just left me speechless."

He remembers Mackenna as a "very nice girl. Never heard of her saying bad about anyone."

She was always happy, always smiling, no matter what, Smith said. He recalled a bus trip to Washington, D.C., seeing Mackenna smile at the sight of trees they could see from the bus windows.

Smith said a he said-she said kind of thing led to a small fight between he and Mackenna when they left Eastmont, but they made up.

"I wished we might have been better friends over the next three years at Carroll, but then I heard about this."

GOT A TIP? Call our monitored 24-hour line, 937-259-2237, or send it to newsdesk@cmgohio.com

0
Comments on this article