Vigil held on campus to commemorate MSU graduates and July 4 shooting victims

Jordan Thornhill, a recent spring MSU graduate and member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, was shot and killed on July 4 at a street festival in west Detroit.

A vigil for Thornhill was held at The Rock on Farm Lane on Friday.

Thornhill was in Detroit to watch the fireworks with some of his fraternity brothers and friends. He was one of three people killed and 24 injured.

Chance Carson, Thornhill’s fraternity brother who was with him when he died, said the two strolled around campus, took food tours and cooked together.

“I was with him when he died,” Carson said. “I found his body, I had to identify it, take his brother to the hospital and tell his parents.”

Carson said they were just leaving the party when the first shots rang out and people started pulling out their guns and shooting to protect themselves.

“Block parties are a cultural thing that brings people together,” Carson said. “I wouldn’t say block parties are the problem, it’s probably the easy availability of guns.”

Carson said Thornhill was in good shape before his death. He had an engineering degree and had several job and internship opportunities.

“Jordan always liked to have fun, but he didn’t need much or demand much to have fun,” Carson said. “Good food, good vibes, he was always just a good person.”

Lillian Lockhart, one of Thornhill’s best friends and a recent graduate of Central Michigan University, spoke at the vigil. Lockhart said she had a conversation with Thornhill a few weeks before his death.

“We had both just graduated and were both worried about what was going to happen next,” Lockhart said. “He was so stressed about it and I told him that everything was going to be OK and that God was going to make his life the way it was meant to be.”

Lockhart said she learned of Thornhill’s death through a call from one of her friends.

“It was hard,” Lockhart said. “But I learned to rely on the people around me.”

TJ Conley, Thornhill’s childhood friend, said he first learned of Jordan’s death when Jordan’s younger brother called him at work.

“Every time his little brother calls me, I think he’s asking me for a ride or something,” Conley said. “He said, ‘I have to tell you some news about Jordan.'”

Conley initially thought Jordan was in the hospital and still fighting.

“I asked where he was shot and Chandler said he was shot in the head,” Conley said. “And he’s gone; it broke my heart.”

Carson has set up a GoFundMe page for Thornhill’s family, which has received $16,467 at the time of publication, with a goal of $20,000. Donations can be made here.