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'He was unforgettable': Friends remember slain USC Upstate student

Friends of a 22-year-old USC Upstate senior killed from a gunshot wound gathered in his memory on Tuesday.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Support for 22-year-old Evan Gaines continues to grow as the investigation into his shooting death moves into the second week. 

The USC Upstate senior, known affectionately by friends as 'Evo,' was found shot at the Campus Edge Apartments, less than a mile away from the school.

Previous: USC Upstate student from Columbia killed, but few details a week after his death

On Tuesday, friends of Gaines' gathered in his memory. The pain still raw as they recalled the moment they lost the man they called 'brother.'

"I was hoping like, we'd randomly get a text like, 'I'm good,'" Richard Lawhorn said, "but never got that call, never got that text. I was like, this must be real."

Previous: 'A walking angel': Family, friends of slain USC Upstate senior speak out

Just last week, friends say they came from colleges across the state to comfort each other after finding out about Gaines' death. 

"All of us came here, you know, together," Rodrick Jones said. "None of us really wanted to be with anybody, talk to anybody, but each other."

They say Gaines was funny, encouraging and a hard worker

"If you met him, you'd probably never forget him, said Stanford Wilson. 

Credit: Sabrina Durant
Evan Gaines was a senior studying business at USC Upstate.

The group says they grew up with Gaines' in Columbia and have fond childhood memories of playing sports and spending time together on Levity Street. So much time, in fact, that they began calling their friend group, 'Lev.'

"I used to stay on... Levity street," Lawhorn said. "Evo was like my best friend, elementary to middle school. I used to bring him to my neighborhood all the time and we used to just chill with my neighborhood friends."

"Playing basketball... joking and laughing," Jones added.

"The most well known, well liked guys, biggest heart," Wilson said. "He was unforgettable."

According to family, Gaines' funeral will be Wednesday, April 3 in Columbia at Bethlehem Baptist Church on 1028 Eastman Street.

 

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