The grief was evident Friday as friends, family and acquaintances said good-bye to a 22-year-old Northern Illinois student who was fatally shot before Thanksgiving Day.
Even after the services started, friends and acquaintances of Steven Agee Jr. continued to pour into the Calvary Baptist Church in Glenwood. The parking lots filled to overflowing and cars parked for half a mile down Glenview road.
"He was an entergetic young man. He always had a smile on his face. If this had happened to anyone else, I don't think there'd be this big of a turnout. He was a great person," said NIU student Delon Finch.
Agee, a senior at NIU, was gunned down Nov. 23 while attending an off-campus party. A 19-year-old man, Chaz Thrailkill, has been charged in the slaying.
"He was living the college life, you know, living the college dream," said another student. "He was going to graduate. It's a shame that someone had to take it away from him like this."
Agee was president of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity on campus. His fraternity brothers wore their red blazers in his honor.
A wake was held Thursday at Leak & Sons Funeral Home in Country Club Hills.
