Community in mourning: Saying goodbye to Khaseen Morris

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Hundreds of mourners filled Towers Funeral Home in Oceanside on Saturday morning to view the open casket of Khaseen Morris, surrounded by flowers and banners, including one that read, “Speak the truth even if your voice shakes." Morris's family attributed the quote to him.

Morris, an Oceanside High School senior who had transferred from Freeport High School this year, was stabbed to death during a fight in the parking lot of an Oceanside strip mall over a girl on Sept. 16, according to Nassau County police.

Keyanna Morris, 30, Khaseen’s oldest sister, said her brother barely knew the girl who sparked the fight and had just met her at the start of the school year.

Keyanna, who dyed her hair orange and black similar to how her brother wore his, held back tears as she greeted family, friends and members of the Freeport and Oceanside communities inside and outside of the funeral home. Taking deep breaths, she embraced the mourners who whispered, “I’m sorry for your loss" and "My deepest condolences," while exchanging embraces.

“I’m trying to stay as strong as possible for my family,” she said. “Hopefully they can see how strong I am trying to be and feed off that — and be strong as well.”

While the mourners gathered at Towers, seven Long Beach teens appeared at First District Court in Hempstead and were charged with gang assault in connection with Morris's murder.

Twelve days before, during a vigil at the shopping strip on Sept. 18, Tyler Flach, the teen charged with second-degree murder in connection Khaseen’s fatal stabbing, was arrested.

The family has pushed for "justice for Kha” on social media and through word of mouth at vigils and at his funeral.

Keyanna said it was “amazing” to hear of the arrests. “I keep telling everyone, someone that was great, peaceful and loving — it will be ridiculous to not get justice,” she said. “As a family, we are standing behind Khaseen, and we’re going to fight to the end. This is the beginning of our fight, and we’re going to fight for Khaseen.”

Khaseen’s classmates from FHS and OHS gathered outside Towers to share stories and memories. Some were clad in tie-dye T-shirts or in red and black, in tribute to Khaseen, and a few, like Keyanna, dyed their hair red and black or orange and black to memorialize him. FHS seniors Atiyya Sydnor and Jayla Robinson had known him since seventh grade, when they were students at J.W. Dodd Middle School. According to Syndor, Khaseen immediately became a part of her group of friends. She along with Robinson and a large group of classmates used to walk home together after school.

“We only lived a 30-minute walk from Dodd,” Robinson said. “We’d act crazy, but it used to take us two hours to get home because we [took] the long way home to hang out and joke around.”

“He was a great person,” Sydnor said, containing her tears. “I can’t believe he is gone.”

According to the girls, Khaseen was the person to be with when you were feeling down, because he was a comedian who could make you laugh with his antics. “He wanted everyone around him to be happy,” Robinson said.

“He always made sure we were having a good day,” Sydnor said. “If you were having a bad day, he would become the highlight of your day.”

Robinson and Sydnor also said he was a part of their school family. “Everyone at our school treats each other like we’re a big family because we are,” Robinson explained.

“We’ve all been crying and hurting in Freeport,” Sydnor said.

According to the Towers Funeral director, the Morris family will have a private cremation ceremony on Monday, and Khaseen’s final burial place has not been decided by the family.