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Barron Alexander Harris, a senior at North Carolina’s Myers Park High School, passed away on Sunday, April 16, 2023. As they shared the news on Twitter, the school said that they were saddened by his death and extended their thoughts and prayers to Barron's family and friends. Myers Park High School also said that Barron was known among his friends for being loyal and as someone with a "loving spirit."
School officials added that a Crisis Response Team will meet with students both individually and in groups on Monday as well as over the coming weeks. The cause and manner of his death have not yet been publicly disclosed by the authorities or the school. However, people close to Barron responded to some speculation tweets and said that the student took his own life.
A Twitter user @kween_evie2 wrote that the cause of Barron's death is unknown because he was yet another fit athlete who died after taking a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Other users slammed the user and her speculation. User @noname67090060 claimed that they knew the cause of Barron's death and vaccination was definitely not it. They told the user to stop pushing her views onto a grieving family.
Twitter users slam vaccine speculation regarding Barron Alexander's sudden death
The news of Barron’s death was shared on Twitter by the local news outlet WSOCTV. Apart from @kween_evie2, another user, @Adam2023A1 also asked if the student was vaccinated and boosted. Other users asked both of them to stop making these speculations when the family of the deceased student is grieving.
The Myers Park High School grieves Barron Alexander's death
Last January, Barron Alexander was interviewed by the QC Life team. He was a member of a traveling basketball team that was coordinated by a case worker from Inlivian, a company providing families with affordable housing in North Carolina’s Charlotte.
QC Life spoke to Barron about the Amateur Athletic Union and his win at more than 24 championships in the southeast. Barron said:
“There was one tournament where we like came back after like losing one tournament and we came together, and it was just like a good feeling, and I knew that we could do this over and over. We just gotta stick together.”
In response to the school's tweet about the same, a user @DianaRuggOnTV, also shared the link to the interview as she expressed sadness about Barron's death.
A letter was sent to the Myers Park staff and families of the students the weekend after Barron's death. It said that he would be deeply missed by the staff and the students of the school as well as by their extended community.
The school asked parents to inform their children that they are welcome to visit the student services office anytime during school hours or the Art Gallery. Parents were also requested to contact the school if they feel that their child needs additional assistance. School officials said that information about a memorial service for Barron would be shared later.
They added that the mental, emotional, and physical loss of someone can be very difficult to process. They asked parents to take this time to communicate with their children and share their love for them.
