Olympian Tyson Gay calls for peace after daughter’s tragic death

Tyson Gay/Facebook
Tyson Gay/Facebook

On Saturday, Oct. 22, Olympic runner Tyson Gay delivered a moving speech at his daughter Trinity’s funeral at the Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, calling for peace.


“This is our community that we need to take back,” he said, addressing nearly 1K people dressed in pink and purple (Trinity’s favorite colors) who gathered to mourn his only child. “A lot of kids are followers now. We need to be there for each other but I need everyone’s help from the mayor to the police to all of you to allow her legacy to keep moving.”


As previously reported, Gay’s beautiful 15-year-old daughter Trinity was shot and killed while out with friends at Lexington’s Cook Out restaurant early Sunday, Oct. 16. A shooting erupted in the restaurant’s parking lot at around 4 a.m., police said. Four men have been arrested in connection to the shooting.

In a statement to ET, Tyson went on about the importance of his daughter’s legacy. “Last Sunday morning, I was awakened by the worst news a parent can hear,” he said. “The death of my daughter as an innocent bystander is devastating, but I am determined that it not be senseless. We must come together as a community to protect each other, giving our young people the tools they need to resolve their conflicts and lead successful lives — the kind that Trinity was well on her way to living.”


“In that spirit — and to follow in the footsteps of those who kept me on the right path as a teenager when I easily could have gone the other way — in the coming weeks we will be exploring ways to help mentor and support the youth of Lexington over the long term, so that the spirit of Trinity will sprint on long after we say goodbye to her this weekend,” he concluded.

Following in her father’s fast footsteps, Trinity was a rising track star and remembered as a popular high school student whose true potential will never be known. “She knew where she was going and she was on her way to get there,” Trinity’s grandmother Daisy Lowe said.

“There is hidden untapped potential in each of us,” Lowe added. “Out of her death, many will be saved. Many will be changed. A seed has been sown. Take the baton and run with it.”

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