VACAVILLE-

Those who loved Demetrious Ward in life, came together at the Vacaville scene tied to his death Monday.

They held up candles and physical lights in the darkness as they collectively look for the same thing in the form of an answer to what is to them a dark mystery – why someone shot Ward in the head.

“It’s very  shocking that  this is going on.  I never thought that this would be also my cousin. I never thought it would be Meech, ” NeNe Matthewssaid

This star Vacaville High running back – known as  Meech among a close circle of friends who call each other cousins – was sitting in his pick-up at 1:30 a.m. Monday when he was shot at the Canyon Creek apartments.

He didn’t live there and no one seems to know exactly why he would be in the area.

“Just here to ask people, everybody acts like they don’t know anything. Justice for Meech,” friend Ryan Rawlins said.

Police won’t give details, but they have said Ward’s texts and phone calls from the hours leading up to the shooting indicate the 18-year-old may know the person who made him a target.

Friends admit that Ward was in the kind of trouble that put him behind bars last year, but they don’t believe he’d slipped into old ways.

“Even thought he had that one thing going on, he got out changed his life around, still did football, was doing what he was supposed to do,” Matthews said. “He wanted to go to college and play football.  That’s why I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Ward had just celebrated a report card of straight A’s.

With so much pain and confusion about what’s happened, relatives made a plea and a promise to the crowd at his vigil.

“Honor his name. Do not go out for vengeance. Demetrious would not like that,” his aunt, Carmen Ward, said Monday. “This person will be brought to justice. If it’s the last breath in my body, I will make sure that Demetrious’ murderer is brought to justice.”