A quiet force.
That’s how Akyra Murray was described by West Catholic Preparatory High School board of governors member Aaron Spence.
Murray, 18, was gunned down Sunday in Orlando at the mass shooting at gay nightclub Pulse. She was on vacation, less than two weeks after graduating from West Catholic. The basketball standout was set to start school in the fall at Mercyhurst University. She would have been on a full athletic scholarship.
“She always had this kind of quiet confidence about her,” Spence said. “She didn’t have to throw her stats up to let you know she was an amazing athlete. She just worked very hard and you saw the fruits of her labor.”
Murray was honored this year for scoring 1,000 points for West Catholic’s Lady Burrs team.
She was an honors student who graduated third in her senior class.
Beulah Osueke, head coach of West Catholic’s girls basketball team, praised Murray’s leadership skills.
“Akyra was a respectful and self-determined young woman who served as a natural leader to her teammates and that observed her from afar,” Osueke said.
Spence echoed those sentiments, noting Murray got along well with everyone in the West Catholic community.
“She loved her friends intensely. She was really kind to anybody,” he said. “Her name was never associated with any kind of drama. She was just a really good kid who was trying to work really hard to get where she wanted to go.”
Spence said Murray’s killing has hit the tight-knit West Catholic community hard.
“From the time you come in to West Catholic to the time you leave, you’re told you’re part of a family, and it is true,” he said. “Everyone is gutted by this news. This young woman in her prime was torn down. Even though she just graduated, Akyra is part of the alumni community, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure her family is taken care of.”
The school plans to hold a vigil for Murray June 15. More details on the vigil will be announced at www.westcatholic.org.