Honoring the legacy of teen killed in retention pond crash

Reporter: Jolena Esperto Writer: Matias Abril
Published: Updated:

A community came together Tuesday night for an event that transcended the boundaries of sport. The preseason baseball classic celebrated the legacy of Jackson Eyre.

Eyre was one of the five teens who died during a tragic car crash back in June. Four of the five worked together at a Fort Myers Texas Roadhouse.

The car ended up submerged in a retention pond near Top Golf in Fort Myers.

Eyre’s dad, Willie, and brother, Parker, said the support has made it a tiny bit easier for them to put on this baseball classic in honor of Eyre.

“It’s for him. It’s for Jackson, and he just lived so free. We say unapologetically, and that’s really how he was,” Willie said.

Jackson was the oldest of five siblings.

Eyre planned to go to Fort Myers Technical College, so the proceeds from this two-day classic will go towards one student’s scholarship to pursue their dreams at Fort Myers Tech and follow in Eyre’s footsteps.

Jackson Eyre

The South Fort Myers High School athletic department organizes the classic. Several schools are participating in Eyre’s honor after he passed away in a car crash with his coworkers at Texas Roadhouse back in June, including his former team, South Fort Myers High School, where Eyre’s dad is the head baseball coach and his younger brother plays on the team.

It’s clear he and his family had left a mark on this community.

Parker played for his brother.

“Do everything for him. Everything I’ve done for him,” he said.

He said Jackson would probably be making fun of him right now. He wasn’t the biggest baseball fan, but it means everything to do this for him.

His mother, Rachel, said if there’s one thing she wants people to know about him…

“Jackson lived life authentically. In high school, sometimes you don’t know who you are, and you’re all just trying to figure it out, and by the end of his high school years, Jackson lived exactly the way he wanted to live, and he was unapologetically him,” she said.

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