JACKSONVILLE (KYTX) - The Jacksonville community is mourning the loss of a local coach, and community icon, Stacy Hunter.
Jacksonville Police say he was shot and killed early Saturday morning at a club he owns in Jacksonville. Family members say the shooter, was his cousin.
24-year-old Jimmy Mosely is charged with capital murder. CBS 19 spoke with Stacy Hunter's family and friends, who are coping with the loss.
With balloons, flowers, and loving words, people throughout Jacksonville gather to remember Stacy Hunter, a man they call a symbol of hope and change.
"This is something he was working against, the tragedy in the community and people hurting each other," says his aunt Brenda Holman.
Holman, says Stacy opened a club about 10 years ago, to provide a safe and fun place where the youth of Jacksonville could go out. Early Saturday night, that place of safety became a crime scene.
Nichols Intermediate School Assistant Principal and coach, Bill McDowell, heard about the news Saturday and says he can't believe it.
"My understanding was that there was a get together [at Stacy's club] and there were some problems between some people that Stacy had calmed down and sent on their way," McDowell said.
Friends say one of the men who was kicked out of the club was Stacy's cousin, Jimmy Mosely.
"From what I hear, he's someone who would snap in a minute," Holman says.
Family members say Mosely walked back into the club with a loaded gun, and shot Stacy, who died at the scene.
"It's cold blooded malicious," Holman says. "He just shot him down and didn't care about him or his family or his three girls or his wife or anything."
"How can something like this can happen to someone who everybody loves?" McDowell says. "He's a peacemaker. He's someone that everybody respects.
Stacy wasn't just known throughout the community for owning the local club. Many of those in Jacksonville who love him, know him as "Coach."
"He's an icon. Even my own son idolized him," McDowell said. "Stacy's worked with kids his entire life. He's coached little league sports, football, and basketball, and everybody wants to be on Stacy's team."
One of Coach Stacy's lifelong friends, Dewayne Hollis, says Jacksonville has lost a true hero.
"You've taken somebody away that's a father. You've taken away somebody that's a leader, a friend, a cousin, somebody that children believe in right now, and that's what we need here," Hollis says.
Those who love Stacy, hope his memory and good deeds will live on and make his community a better place.
McDowell says counselors will be brought into Jacksonville schools Monday to help kids cope with the loss.
Jacksonville Police are still investigating the shooting. Right now, Mosely is in jail on a $250,000 bond.
