As the sun set on Monday, hundreds of students, school staff, parents, and alumni filled the parking lot of Harding High School on St. Paul’s East Side.
Many had last left the school in shock and trauma. They came back together to grieve at a candlelight vigil.
Devin Scott, a 15-year-old student attending his first day at Harding, was fatally stabbed by a 16-year-old classmate during school hours on Friday, police have said. The student suspected of stabbing him is in police custody. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is expected to file charges Tuesday.
The fatal stabbing inside a school left St. Paul reeling. Harding canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday.
In an email to staff, St. Paul Public Schools announced that Harding will add a third school support liaison to the school’s security team, and that police officers will be stationed outside five high schools at least through the end of the week. The decision marks a change in direction: In June 2020, following pressure from students of color, St. Paul Public Schools cut ties with the city’s police department.
Both St. Paul police and Ramsey County sheriff vehicles were visible outside Monday’s vigil.
Union members with the St. Paul Federation of Educators, which organized the vigil, passed out flameless candles to people streaming into the rally. Some attendees brought blue and white balloons.
Many of the teenagers attending the rally said they were still processing their feelings and having trouble putting them into words.
Damareya Thompson, 17, who attends Minneapolis’ North Community High School, said Devin was his cousin. He described Devin as a “loving kid.”
It’s difficult to describe how his family is doing, he said. “I don’t know how to explain it, really.”
Cris Carrillo, also 17, is a senior at Harding. He said he hopes to see more security and metal detectors when he returns to school on Wednesday. But mostly, he said, he felt sad for Devin, rather than scared.
The crowd’s chatter died down as the program began. A projector flashed phrases onto the school’s brick exterior: “Harding United,” “Stronger, Together,” “Am I just a statistic?” Students held a “Harding United” banner as Leah VanDassor, president of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, introduced the speakers.
The first speaker was the Rev. Runney D. Patterson, Sr., the pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in St. Paul, who said he was a parent and outreach worker at Harding. “I believe in what’s going on here at Harding, and if I did not, my children would not be at Harding School,” he said.
Patterson said he had officiated during the funerals of more than 70 young African American men.
“We want to come to graduations,” he said. “We want to come to weddings. We want to come to celebrations. We don’t want to continue to have to mourn the loss of the next principals, the next teachers, the next mayors, the next governors, the next preachers, the next policemen.”
We want to come to celebrations. We don’t want to continue to have to mourn the loss of the next principals, the next teachers, the next mayors, the next governors, the next preachers, the next policemen.
the Rev. Runney D. Patterson, Sr.
Louie Francisco, a Harding teacher and alumnus, spoke next. “We cannot let this tragic event define us,” he said. “We cannot let this tragic event destroy us. But let it strengthen us.”
Hawti Boranto, the 18-year-old Harding student body president, offered condolences to the family, and addressed the students. “I understand that a lot of us personally didn’t know Devin considering it was his first day,” she said. “I understand the feelings you all are feeling right now may be confusing and hard to process, but it is all valid.”
She urged students to check in on each other—and on themselves. “Please don’t be afraid to ask for help and reach out to anyone here tonight,” she said. “This tragedy will fully change the trajectory of this community. And I just pray and hope that the ripple effect is positive and brings us peace.”
This tragedy will fully change the trajectory of this community. And I just pray and hope that the ripple effect is positive and brings us peace.
Hawti Boranto, Harding’s student body president
The final scheduled speaker was Mayor Melvin Carter, a St. Paul Public Schools graduate and parent.
“I love this school community. I love this school,” he said. “I do not love being here tonight. We shouldn’t have to be here tonight.”
Yet it was not the first time the community had borne the trauma of a child killing another child, he said.
“The only thing that makes it even more impossible to bear is the fact that that young man was inside the sanctuary,” Carter said. “We’re here today because we cherish an environment and a community where our schools are sanctuaries for our children. There is no other way. Our schools must be sanctuaries of peace.”
After leading the crowd in a moment of silence, Carter urged attendees to “be loud in our desire in our drive and our demand for safer communities.”
VanDassor, the union president, began wrapping up the vigil and giving instructions for how to leave the parking lot. But Carter brought forward one final speaker, a man who did not give his name but identified himself as Devin’s uncle.
“His name is Devin Denelle Edward Scott,” the uncle said. “We thank you all for coming out here, for these words and supporting our family, but we haven’t heard his name spoken, and he died on his first day here.” The uncle encouraged the crowd to shout Devin’s name.
“His name was Devin,” he said, his voice breaking. “And we loved him.”
‘It’s hard to transition back’
Students, teachers, alumni, and elected officials trickled out after the program, many stopping to chat with and comfort each other.
Hawti Boranto’s eyes were filled with tears after the speakers concluded.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel,” she said. She accepted a hug from a teacher who praised her speech.
Hawti said she is ready to go back to school, to process with her classmates and student leadership group.
“I think going back there is going to be really nice and helpful, kind of getting time to process and heal in the school,” she said. “Because I think a lot of us are trying to do that at home, but it’s kind of confusing.”
She said she hopes that students are respectful of the experiences people had with the stabbing, and do not pass around photos or videos of the incident.
A group of sophomore friends—Nathan Paguyo, Grace Lee, and Summer Hang—lingered in the parking lot.
“It’s hard to transition back,” Nathan said. He does not feel safe returning to school, he added.
“I’m just speechless,” Grace said. “My heart feels so heavy. He lost his life in the hallways in the school while school was in session. We never thought this would happen.”
“A lot of people don’t want to be that school with metal detectors and stuff like that,” Summer said. “But if that’s what we need to not have students dying, we should have that.”
A lot of people don’t want to be that school with metal detectors and stuff like that. But if that’s what we need to not have students dying, we should have that.
Harding student Summer Hang
Grace was struck by the fact that Devin was killed on his first day at Harding.
“That’s what hurt me the most, because he came to school on the first day, just to go on with his day, talk to friends, learn and have fun in this new school that he just attended,” she said. “It’s so sad that he lost his life on the first day of school.”
Though most of the candles throughout the vigil were artificial, a small display of lighted candles formed by the school entrance. Toward the end of the vigil, Jamesha Wandrick, a 2003 Harding alum, and her father, James Wandrick, Jr., remained by the candles, wearing maroon for Harding.
Jamesha works as an educational assistant for St. Paul Public Schools; her father has also worked for the district. Jamesha now has a 5-year-old in St. Paul’s Frost Lake Elementary School.
The family has a long history in the district. But by the time her child is high-school age, Jamesha said, she might consider homeschooling.
