STARKVILLE — The cool kids and the cliques meant nothing to Devin Mitchell, though he was in everybody’s circle of friends.
Athletes, art students, freshmen, upperclassmen, black students and white students — to Mitchell, a person’s look and lifestyle made him unique. And he’d always remind others of it.
“He was always taking up for people if he saw you were treated wrong,” said Starkville High junior and friend Janna Gandy. “And he never wanted to see you down. He’d always say, ‘Poke that lip in and put a smile on your face.'”
Mitchell will be laid to rest at 2 p.m. today at Calvary Baptist Church on Jackson Street in Starkville. He was shot to death New Year’s Day.
There’s a strange irony that everyone’s “big brother” didn’t have someone to protect him from a bullet that wasn’t even meant for him, said friend Charles Hughes. The shooting, which took place in front of Mitchell’s aunt’s apartment in West Point, has been described by police as a random, senseless act of violence.
“To a certain extent, there is some comfort knowing it wasn’t malicious,” Hughes said, “because nobody would do that to him. They didn’t know each other, and (the shooter) didn’t know how far his river extended in the community.”
Martyrs are often religious, political or civil rights heroes whose impact spans generations and reaches thousands, if not millions. Their lives are often claimed by people who oppose their ideology and relentless efforts for equality.
The man accused of shooting Mitchell, 31-year-old Tavaris Collins, didn’t know Mitchell’s name or the classmates and childhood friends who looked up to him.
To his teachers and classmates, Mitchell sacrificed plenty to be the friend and student he was. He could have turned the cheek when he saw a student being bullied. He could have put his headphones on and ignored someone having a bad day. He could have smiled less. He could have done all the things hundreds of classmates did and cared more about himself.
But he didn’t, and his selflessness is already having a martyr-like impact on classmates and administrators.
“He could diffuse arguments just by making a joke,” said Caroline Woomer, Mitchell’s track coach. “He would just be quiet or step away. That’s one thing (teachers) encourage.
“If in doubt, or you’re having a hard day, remember what Devin would do,” Woomer added. “The best of the best is gone, so there’s a feeling that ‘I need to step up to the plate and not take my life for granted.'”
Woomer met Mitchell when he was in seventh grade at Armstrong Middle School. Her children had just enrolled in Starkville schools, and one of her sons, Grant, was Devin’s classmate. Despite being a new student, Grant never had to worry about bullies.
“I remember him saying, ‘Devin’s got my back,'” Woomer said. “I’ve heard three other people say the same thing: ‘Devin took up for me. You remember when Devin took up for me?’ And one girl said, ‘He would take up for anybody.’ One girl was tweeting the other day, ‘I remember when Devin took up for me in eighth grade.’
“He wanted to see the right thing done, and people respected it.”
Buried in the outpouring of emotion on Facebook and Twitter were responses to comments posted about why Mitchell was out that late and what kind of mischief he was involved in.
For the people who didn’t know Mitchell, and subsequently rushed to judgment when they heard of his death, his friends hope the story of his life will change perceptions of black teens in the Golden Triangle.
“That’s a stereotype black people have gained over the years, I know,” said friend and football teammate Gabe Myles. “But it doesn’t disappoint me; it shows their ignorance. I just hate that it came to Devin Mitchell because they just didn’t know him.”
“Personally, I think he can change how people think,” Hughes said. “He impacted a lot of people in school and in the community. That’s somebody you never forget. That’s somebody you want everybody to know about.”
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