JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A victim of the racially-motivated Jacksonville Dollar General shooting was honored with a degree posthumously Monday morning and a scholarship has been established in his name.
The A.J. Laguerre Jr. Endowed Scholarship is a full-ride scholarship at Florida State College at Jacksonville, funded by the PGA Tour. The 19-year-old, Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., attended Raines High School.
As a video game and streaming enthusiast, Laguerre aspired to go to college and major in cybersecurity, according to a press release from Duval County Public Schools.
A.J.'s brother, Quan Laguerre, spoke during the ceremony. He said A.J. started playing video games with his brothers at a young age.
"At the end of the day, it's quality time, everyone being together and just playing the game, and he's just laughing at everyone else's reactions to the games and things like that," Quan said.
Quan said A.J. had big plans to turn his love of gaming and technology into a career.
"His main thing is just finding something that he just enjoyed doing. And that was, that's all he's always been about," Quan said.
That love of technology will now live on through the A.J. Laguerre Junior Scholarship.
High school graduates living in Duval County's Health Zone 1 zip codes (32202, 32204, 32206, 32208, 32209, 32254) with similar interests in cybersecurity, IT or a related field are eligible for the scholarship.
To inspire and assist students in understanding the high-wage jobs and STEM careers, where minorities are underrepresented, technology leaders from various organizations participated in a panel before the announcement of the scholarship on Monday.
"With this scholarship, someone is able to take this and change the course of their family and break those generational curses," Quan explained.
While this day marked one year since A.J. was killed, his brother Quan chose to remember the good and hold on to the hope this new scholarship represents.
"Words can't even express how grateful I am for it. Especially him being able to impact not just one life but many; that was his goal in life, just to impact the world. He didn't know what way he was gonna do it. He just knew it was gonna be positive," Quan said.
The other victims in the fatal triple shooting were 29-year-old Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion and 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr.
Monday marks the first anniversary of the senseless acts of violence.