Tears and laughter: Families of Club Blu victims mourn

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The two teenage boys who died in the Club Blu mass shooting are gone, but the impressions they made on those close to them are indelible.

Two distinctly different wakes were held Friday in remembrance of 14-year-old Sean Archilles and 18-year-old Stef’an Strawder, with private funerals set for Saturday. Loud cries of grief rang out at Archilles’ wake while a more low-key event was held for Strawder, with friends sharing laughter outside.

Still, it’s apparent Strawder’s loss weighs heavy on many hearts. The promising basketball star for Lehigh Senior High School was drawing looks from NCAA Division I schools, and a Florida Southwestern player wants to make sure that at least a small part of him winds up on a college court.

“Hopefully when I get my jersey, I’m going to ask for No. 2 (Strawder’s number), or when I get my shoes, I’m going to write his number down in my shoes and always remember him,” said Sam “Brooklyn” Velez, a friend and former opponent at South Fort Myers High.

Velez’s connection to Strawder is more profound than most. He was by Strawder’s side in the moments after he was shot as he clung to life in the early morning hours of July 25.

“I checked his pulse, you know, made sure everything was fine,” Velez said. “He couldn’t really talk or anything, but you know, he could shake his head.”

Velez, taking a cue from Strawder’s unwavering faith in God, went to bed that night with the faith that his friend would be OK. It didn’t work out that way.

The same was sadly true for Archilles, whom friend Chloe Pardi describes as having been deeply religious.

“He was a very good Christian,” Pardi said. “He loved God with all his heart. Everybody knows that. He was a good Christian.”

Pardi said she met Archilles at church four years ago. She was in tears at his wake but felt worse for those who knew him from the beginning.

“I feel so bad for his family,” she said. “He was so young and he didn’t deserve to go. He was such a good kid.

Four arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, but authorities are still trying to pin down just who pulled the trigger and piece together the events of the fateful night. Tips have been few and far between, and Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is urging anyone with information to call 1-800-780-TIPS.