Kameia Echols has been playing a voice message from her nephew on repeat since Thursday.
It’s a short, simple message: Her nephew Quanice Hayes tells her hello, that he misses her and hopes she visits soon. It’s an ordinary call, but it’s the only way Echols can still hear Hayes’ voice after the 17-year-old was shot and killed by a Portland police officer on Thursday.
Echols, six months older than her nephew, said she was close to him after living with his family for several years before moving to Vancouver in October. She and the family are in shock, she said.
“He was love,” she said of her nephew. “He was the light of the family.”
Hayes was fatally shot by Officer Andrew Hearst on Thursday morning, police said. Police say Hayes was a suspect in an armed robbery at the Portland Value Inn on 1707 N.E. 82nd Ave. earlier that morning.
A suspect matching Hayes’ description had reportedly pointed a gun at a man and took an Oregon food benefits card from him, police said. A few hours later, a suspect matching Hayes’ description was seen in the parking lot of the Banfield Pet Hospital on 1816 N.E. 82nd Ave.
Police say a replica gun was found near Hayes after Hearst shot him. They have not released details of what prompted Hearst to shoot.
What police describe is not the boy that Echols remembers. She said Hayes was a loving brother to his younger siblings, a good student and an avid basketball player who dreamed of playing in the National Basketball Association.
“He made a mistake,” Echols said. “But I honestly don’t think his life should have been taken over it.”
Hayes – nicknamed “Moose,” referring to the character from “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” — was the oldest of five children. He was always looking out for his siblings, Echols said. He often took his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 3, to the park to play.
Since he died, Echols said, the boys have been asking where he is.
“Moose was always there for them,” Echols said. “He was so devoted to his little brothers. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for them.”
Echols said she Hayes, the nephew so close in age to her, would talk about everything from school to dating advice.
No matter what they were doing, she said, Hayes could make it fun. He danced in public at a Little Caesars Pizza while Echols filmed him on her phone. He suggested spontaneous trips to go play basketball at the community center. He always made Echols laugh.
Hayes was a magnetic personality, she said, and he could make friends with anyone.
“He was such a people person. He had so many friends it was unbelievable,” she said. “Everywhere he went, he made new friends.”
In recent months, Hayes started to hang around a new group of friends, Echols said. He became more distant with his family and harder to contact, she said.
Hayes is listed on a state list of missing persons. Echols said she did not know why.
She thinks that Hayes got into trouble because he wanted acceptance from his new friends.
“I believe he was just lost,” she said. “He just got caught up in the wrong thing.”
About 11 hours after Hayes was shot, Portland police shot another man who, they said, had a fake gun. He is recovering at a hospital.
A vigil for Hayes will be held at the Banfield Pet Hospital at 6 p.m. Activist group Portland’s Resistance encouraged people to go to the vigil on Facebook.
Follow live coverage of the vigil below:
Tweets by @SMatsumoto55
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
