Hundreds pack Elgin church to mourn teen killed in crash
As a matter of philosophy, the Daily Herald does not photograph funerals without permission of the family except in extenuating circumstances, such as the death of a public official. In this case, the family of John W. Keyes granted us permission, and we were as inconspicuous as possible in photographing the services.
The devil did not get the victory of John W. Keyes' life, said the Rev. Daniel McFadden of House of Restoration Church in Elgin.
God did.
On Monday, more than 500 people packed inside St. James AME Church for the 17-year-old Elgin teen's funeral. During the emotional yet upbeat service, mourners lined the lobby, hallway and the back of the sanctuary.
Keyes' sisters and dozens of friends were clad in T-shirts that displayed a smiling picture of John on the front and the back.
Keyes, the youngest of five children and the only boy, was remembered as a jokester who loved to rap and never shied away from telling his family how he felt about them.
"The last thing he said was, 'Dad, I love you,'" said John Keyes Jr., who lives in Indianapolis. "I love you too, son," he said, pointing to the sky.
About a half dozen pastors came from Elgin and Chicago churches and directed their messages not only to the bereaved family, but also to the hundreds of mourning teenagers who took the day off from school to attend Keyes' funeral.
They used the funeral as a teaching moment, urging students to learn something from Keyes' death and to accept Christ so their own lives don't end in violence.
"It's an opportunity for every young person to take a look at yourself and choose a new life that will lead you to the future," said the Rev. Nathaniel Edmond, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Elgin.
Keyes attended Kimball Middle School and Elgin High School before dropping out last year, but was studying to get a GED. Elgin Area School District U-46 officials did not know how many students attended Keyes' funeral, spokesman Tony Sanders said.
If parents called in to say a student would be absent to attend the funeral, the district excused the absence, Sanders said. Grief counselors also are available to both Elgin and Larkin High School students.
Keyes was killed last Sunday when a Streamwood mother of three deliberately rammed her car into the teenager outside an Elgin housing complex on the east side, crushing him against the building, police said.
"To have you snatched away so early, and so fast, tears me up," said oldest sister Latasha Keyes, reading from a poem she wrote to her brother. "I will always love you."
Timera D. Branch, 33, of Streamwood, faces two counts of murder. She remains behind bars on $1 million bond and is due in court Thursday.
The Keyes family says Keyes and Branch's 16-year-old son got into a fight over a girl at an Elgin party the night before his death.
Keyes' father pleaded with teenagers to take the higher road if they find themselves in a confrontation and said he doesn't want his son's death to be in vain.
"To all you young brothers, it's OK to walk away," he said "That doesn't make you a punk."
• Daily Herald Staff Writer Kerry Lester contributed to this report.
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