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Douglass Little League dedicating season to former player shot and killed

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A little league on the city’s east side is preparing to honor the memory of a former player Saturday morning.

Jerrold Parker, 18, was a catcher. Police said he was shot and killed over an argument on Twitter in February.

“When I got the phone call, it was heartbreaking to know that we lost one of our players just to the violence,” said Berry Winston, vice president of the Douglass Little League.

The Douglass Little League is dedicating this season to Parker. Winston told 24-Hour News 8 that Parker was always the light of the team and always encouraging other teammates.

“He was a good kid to have around, if for some reason the kids were down and we’re down in the game,” said Winston, “He would say something just to hype the team up get them ready to play and prepare to play again.”

Kids as young as four years old showed their potential on the baseball field at Oscar Charleston Park Friday evening. Parents watched from the bleachers and cheered them on. Winston said the league is missing a former player this season and it’s been tough.

“We preach a lot to the kids around here in the neighborhood in the area, you know, about gun violence, staying away from crime and things like that,” he said. “Just to hear the way and how he got killed is just ridiculous and senseless over nothing.”

Jerrold Parker played with the league for years and now the league wants to do something special to honor his memory.

“He was a vocal leader for our league he played in our league and, you know, he was someone that the younger kids looked up to. He always had a smile on his face,” he said.

Winston said they’re putting up a banner and it will stay there forever on the gates. A trophy will also be given to a player at the end of the season in Parker’s name.

The league was supposed to do the dedication two weeks ago, but had to reschedule because of the weather.

“You always got to turn negative things into positive things, so hopefully with his death, you know, someone’s going to learn from it,” he said. “Someone’s going to learn not to make the same mistakes and do the same thing over and over and over again, and learn how to walk away.”

Winston’s son was also friends with Parker. Berry Winston IV and Parker both played together on the team. He’s now coaching a wave of new players and teaching them a thing or two about life.

“We always try to tell them stay in school, keep doing sports, try to stay away from things that, you know, could turn out wrong,” he said. “Sometimes I tell them if you can’t tell your mom what you did, then you shouldn’t do it at all.”

Despite the pain of losing his friend, Winston IV knows that Parker is looking down on his teammates feeling very proud.

“He was always the one that was kind of a team motivator he would be pretty happy knowing everybody else is doing good,” he said.

The dedication is scheduled for Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Parker’s mom will also address the crowd.

Officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will also be doing bike ride with kids in the neighborhood.