Before he departed for a birthday party, LaTeris Cook told his childhood friend he wasn’t sure about the Saturday night gathering.
Something didn’t feel right.
“He told me he had a gut feeling he shouldn’t have went,” said Gary “Acee” Smith, who knew Cook for more than a decade.
“He knew something was going to end up happening.”
Cook, a son, father and friend of many, was killed early Sunday morning in the East Akron mass shooting on Kelly and Eighth avenues. Twenty-four people were also injured.
On social media, the outpouring of grief was quick. More than 100 people shared photos and memories of Cook, 27, punctuating their posts with broken hearts and praying hands emojis. They called him the realist, adding he didn’t deserve to die.
Not like this.
Outside a Sherbondy Hill house, where Cook’s mom lives, two bunches of balloons flanked railings on the front stoop — white ones with gold-outlined crosses, blue ones with clouds that read “forever in our hearts” and large silver letters, an L and a T.
Family members and friends gathered under tents in the backyard to honor Cook, including Kalandra McDowell, who is married to Cook’s mother. To honor him, she wore blue shoes and painted her fingernails blue.
His favorite color.
“He lived his life out loud,” said McDowell, who knew him since he was born.
Smith described Cook, known as “LT,” as a genuine, caring person. That’s why McDowell said the family was still trying to comprehend the tragedy. No more phone calls from Cook, pleading for 10 more minutes to get somewhere, knowing he was really two hours away. No more exciting times with a loved one who was often the life of the party.
“People think of it as the big things, but it’s the little things you figure out you miss the most,” McDowell said. “You can’t heal a broken heart.
“You can only put a bandage on the wound for so long.”
McDowell wants gun violence in Akron to stop — and she wants to know why this happened. Go to the police, send her messages on social media, just help her find out why.
“He was enjoying himself and my kid got shot,” she said. “He’s not here anymore; that’s the whole point to the story. He’s not here anymore. That’s where we’re at.”
Rebounding after mistakes
While Smith said Cook had gotten in some legal trouble in the past, he said the time Cook spent incarcerated changed him for the better. It showed him what he wanted from life, Smith said — so much so that friends gave him a nickname.
“Pastor.”
Because he often preached to them about the need to improve if they messed up.
“He was about change,” Smith said.
Savannah Kennedy, a friend of Cook’s since they were both in diapers, said the two were in prison at the same time. When Cook was released, Kennedy said, “He turned it around and he did it right.”
Kennedy said Cook was the sort of friend who wouldn’t just give him the shirt off his back — he would give him the last shirt he owned.
“He just wanted to make a difference, he really did,” Kennedy said. “If he could have saved the world, he would have.”
Friends on the field and off
On the football field, Smith said Cook was a great teammate at Garfield High School, loyal and full of respect for others. He played linebacker, while Smith lined up at cornerback.
The friends played basketball together, went to the gym together, traveled together to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Atlanta; New Orleans and Philadelphia.
Smith said Cook was the person he leaned on when his grandmother passed away and the friend who made sure he was eating when he didn’t do it on his own.
And he remembered him as someone with a heart of gold who stood up for what was right. In high school, Smith said, Cook once spoke up to stop a fellow student from being bullied.
“If he raised his voice for a good cause, a lot of people listened,” Smith said. “He would step into any situation he knew was wrong and try to prevent it. He was more of a peacekeeper than anything.”
Kennedy echoed that description, calling Cook a peaceful soul. If there were warring factions, he said, Cook was the one to step in between them and say the disagreement was petty. He pushed for positivity, Kennedy said. He called him amazing, intelligent and loving.
Friends and family: Cook cared about his kids
When Kennedy last saw Cook a couple weeks ago, his friend wouldn’t stop smiling when he talked about his baby girl.
“When he came out of prison and his daughter was born, that’s all he cared about, man,” Kennedy said. “It opened his eyes.”
Cook took his children to Castaway Bay for a recent birthday, Kennedy said. McDowell, who described Smith as an excellent father, said he’d also taken his children to Chuck E. Cheese’s, to Dave and Buster’s, to go-karting.
His oldest is 11 and his youngest is 3, McDowell said, with another on the way.
“Our guy [was] a good guy,” McDowell said of Cook.
Keeping tabs; one last phone call
As adults, the friends kept location sharing on their smartphones, wanting to know the other was safe. They talked and texted daily.
On Saturday night, Smith said he asked Cook to let him know when he got home. Before they hung up the phone, Smith told Cook to be careful.
Cook replied, “I love you, boss,” an emotion he wasn’t afraid to express to loved ones.
When Smith didn’t hear from his friend by Sunday morning, he called and called.
“It kind of hurts that that was the last words I said to him,” Smith said, “but I’m glad I did.”
