A Tribute For Deon & Skyler.

This GoFundMe aims to raise money to purchase graphic novels, manga, and art books for the Winburn Middle School Library in honor of the late Deon Williams, a student of Winburn, and his younger sister Skyler.

My name is Shawn Pryor, and along with artist Bryce Oquaye, we spent time with a group of kids at the Winburn Middle School Library to teach comic books and creative writing in April and May of this year.

These kids are the best. They loved being there, had fun, and we loved being there.

But, there was this one kid who struck a chord with me.

His name was Deon. A seventh-grader. During our first class, he was very quiet & reserved. He didn't say much, but he was READY when it was time to put pencil to paper: he was such a unique and wonderful kid.

But it was in the 3rd and 4th class sessions Deon started to open up and talk with the other students in class. During those classes, Bryce and I would talk about anime and manga with the kids and Deon lit up and joined in with the other kids & they had the BEST time while drawing comics. I can still hear Deon's laughter. He loved graphic novels, comic books, and manga and would read them for inspiration, ideas, and fun.

The week before our 5th class session, Deon and his younger sister Skyler were taken from us. Their mother murdered them.

https://www.wkyt.com/2022/05/06/he-should-be-here-mentor-remembers-boy-who-police-say-was-stabbed-death-by-his-mom/

I'm thankful for the time that Deon was in our lives and that the time spent with him and the kids at Winburn truly meant something to him. He wanted to be there. He should still be here. Our class was a place for him to escape and be who he wanted to be, and now we can't share that with him anymore.

So, we want to dedicate something to honor Deon.

This GoFundMe aims to raise money to purchase a bunch of graphic novels, manga, and art books to donate to the Winburn Middle School Library and buy a small plaque in honor/memory of Deon and Skyler to give to the library. The books and plaque will be placed in a special library section named "Deon and Skyler's" Corner.

Thank you for your time and contribution. You are sincerely appreciated.

-Shawn