Alexander Christian Foundation to Mark 60th Anniversary (Plus News Briefs) christianstandard.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianstandard.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Apr 26, 2021 / 10:29 PM EST
SOUTHPORT, Ind. (WISH) Nineteen-year-old Samaria Blackwell was laid to rest on Monday.
She was one of the eight people killed in the FedEx shooting a week and a half ago.
Provided Photo/Blackwell family
“Today is a tough day. Today is a sad day, but it is a day that is not without hope,” Tim Jensen, her former basketball coach, said.
There have been many reports of Blackwell’s hopes of becoming a police officer. Six different police departments from across the state were at the service and took part in the large police procession that led family and friends to the grave site. Those departments include IMPD, Avon, Beech Grove, Portland, Southport and the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department.
About four years ago, Samaria Blackwell was elbowed in the face in the middle of a game during a basketball tournament at Grand Park in Westfield and needed stitches just above her eye.
She came back from getting the stitches and said “put me in, coach,” remembered Matt Barnes, whose daughters played on the Indianapolis Homeschool Wildcats basketball team with Blackwell.
“That was Samaria living life and living it large,” he said. The incident earned her the nickname “Stitches.
Blackwell, who was one of eight people killed in the shooting at the FedEx Ground Plainfield Operations Center on April 15, was remembered outside Southport Heights Christian Church Monday for her determination and loyalty.