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Aidan Lloyd Atkinson

Age 18

Waynesboro, Mississippi

He loved his blue pickup truck

He loved his pickup truck so much that he wasted no opportunity to show it off. He used a picture of it as his Facebook page’s profile picture and header.

Even those who didn’t know him well called him, “well-mannered, and respectful.” Those who did say he knew just how to make people laugh and always had a smile on his face.

On December 14, 2018, Aidan Lloyd Atkinson accidentally shot himself while sitting in the parking lot of a shopping center in his hometown of Waynesboro, Mississippi. He was pronounced dead in the truck he adored.

By Willow Taylor Chiang Yang · Age 16 and Scarlett Liriano Cepin · Age 19
Meet the Reporters

More than 100 jokesters

Deandre Moon

Overnight tragedy for a basketball fan

Robert Carranza

He liked to post song lyrics

Eddie Daiquan Grant

A devoted boyfriend and rap fan

Steven Alexander Jr.

He missed his first Father’s Day

Will Earl Davis Jr.

The rising senior was always smiling

Jonathan David Freeman Jr.

Debated anything, from music to Deflategate

Manuel Lopez Jr.

High school senior set to graduate

Ryan J. Dillon

A playful boy, stopped by bullets

Darion Gordon

Sixteen years erased by one bullet

Edgar Alan Espino

Jokester loved to make people laugh

Daron Johnson

He went to celebrate another’s life

Matthew James Jurado

Challenging student had a compassionate heart

Jayvone J. Shackelford-Bishop

Friends together like Lilo & Stitch

Terale Claridy-Vaught

‘Solid’ friend barely gets to adulthood

Rashiya Melton

Joins brother, leaves behind her twin

Eric Xavier Degori

His jokes could make anyone laugh

Natwan Kian Holyfield

Supposed to go to homecoming, prom

Kaiden Vague

Sixteenth birthday. Golden birthday. Last birthday.

Bryan Portales Escalante

Phone, wallet, shoes and, life — gone

Amauri Green

Died while fixing a flat tire