‘Model scholar-athlete’ from Philly killed in Orlando nightclub shooting

Shortly after Mateen entered the club Murray’s mother, Natalie Murray, received a chilling text from her daughter, saying she’d been shot in the arm.

Murray, who graduated last week, was in Florida to celebrate her graduation and to visit her brother, according to the school’s website.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Murray’s mother, Natalie, said Akyra told her parents she wanted to party in downtown Orlando. They dropped her off at Pulse at 11:30 Saturday night.

“Mercedez, she had so many ideas, so much happening”, he said, adding that the family had moved to the central Florida city of Davenport from NY in 2012.

Murray, a guard on the basketball team, had a grade-point average of around 3.0, Colistra said, adding, “She was a solid student”.

Murray said her daughter was hiding in a bathroom stall, her arm bleeding for hours with no medical treatment.

“With college on the horizon, Murray is relying on self-motivation and her development leadership skills now more than ever to help her continue the journey that was once only a dream”, the school wrote”.

They never spoke again.

“West Catholic Prep is terribly saddened to report that Akyra Murray ’16 has been confirmed as a victim in the mass shooting in Orlando this weekend, ‘” the school said in a statement.

On the basketball court, Murray built herself into a steady player after transferring to the school in her junior year.

Akyra Murray was with her friend, Patience Carter, an aspiring musician wounded in the Orlando attack. “I hugged her and wished her all the best not knowing it would be the last time I would see her alive”. The vigil is planned for the evening of Wednesday, June 15 and more details will be released on our website when arrangements are final. Grief counselors will be on hand at West Catholic Prep for all students the rest of the week. But her coach, Jim Gallagher, says basketball did not define Murray. “She just embraced everybody here and treated everybody as an equal”, Gallagher said.

Napoleon Kingcade, who runs the summer league that Murray played in, told 6ABC that Murray “had everything going for her”.