Members of the Champaign-Urbana community joined together in the rain Thursday with shouts of “No more stolen lives” to remember the death of 15-year-old Kiwane Carrington, who was shot by a Champaign police officer on Oct. 9.

The group marched from the Illinois Terminal to the Boys and Girls Club in downtown Champaign and was led by Aaron Ammons, co-founder of the Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice.

“Don’t let him die in vain,” Ammons told the rest of the group, as they marched to the Boys and Girls Club where Carrington’s friends and peers shared their sentiments about his death.

Carrington’s death occurred after an altercation between two Champaign police officers and Carrington and another 15-year-old boy. The other boy was recently released to his mother’s custody after a court hearing and will be tried for “aggravated resisting of a police officer,” Ammons said.

He added that the march addressed changes that the group felt should be made by police after Carrington’s death.

“This is a response due to changes that need to be made in the police department and in the city government,” he said. “This is not anything meant to be antagonistic or anything like that. Changes need to be made as a result of the watch of some of the folks in charge.”

Chris Erake, Champaign resident and friend of Carrington’s, said the march was important to bring together the black community.

“We need to show people that us black people mean something in the community,” he said.

Carrington’s brother, Smooth Rivers, said the 15-year-old was his second brother to die from gunshots. The boys also lost their mother to cancer.

“I was just getting my life back together then this happened,” Rivers said. “It’s tough to deal with, but I did do it before so I know how to cope with it.”

Rivers encouraged the youth in his community to behave and “fight back” by working hard and succeeding in school.

“You can kill them with kindness, cause right now, you’re fightin’ back with your hands and your guns ain’t gonna do nothing but have more hurt around here,” he said. “And that’s going to lead to more people getting sadder and more families losing lives and you don’t need that.”

Jeff Dillon and Robert Wiley, both neighbors and friends of Carrington’s, said his death encouraged them to succeed in school and live the life they thought Carrington would have wanted.

“I’m going to be a better student for Kiwane,” Dillon said. “If God could have given him five more years to reach that opportunity, I believe that he would have gone to college.”

Wiley said he agreed, adding that his mother took care of Carrington after Carrington’s mother’s death.

“We’re trying to be better for him,” he said.