Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, began much like any other winter weekend in Mechanicsville. The local basketball teams had competed the night before, the wrestling teams were going into action, and students were looking forward to plans for the night.

  But by early in the morning hours of Sunday the world changed.

  Word spread quickly through text messages and by 1 a.m. nearly the entire community of high school students throughout Hanover County had heard the news most older residents would not discover until the following day. Atlee sophomore Brett Wells had been shot and killed.

  A tragedy in itself but the story grew darker as the details emerged.
  By Monday morning more information was unearthed and it began to cloud the weekend’s darkness further.

  A drug deal gone wrong, robbery and murder—events people read about in the daily news with a tsk, shake of the head and comments of “Serves them right” followed by praise that those kind of things don’t happen in Hanover County. 
  But this did happen here.

  Then the catastrophe was exponentially increased when Atlee senior basketball player Kevin Drayton Jr. was one of three young men charged with the murder of Wells.

  For those who did not know Drayton, a cry for revenge emerged. He and Henrico students Da’von Byars and Xavia Highsmith were quickly tried and convicted in the court of public opinion and the ugly side of humanity began to rear its head. “Kill them all! They deserve to die! Give them the needle!”

  Hidden behind the anonymous façade of the Internet, Hanover County residents stormed the streets of the Ethernet highway with torches and pitchforks demanding vengeance. A mob mentality quickly developed. Someone shouted “Hate Crime” and many took up the cry.

  Suddenly, and without any evidence of the sort, the crime was defined as being racially motivated—a cry of ignorance and a wedge in a community looking for healing.

  Meanwhile, those who know Drayton shuddered in shock.

  This was not some hoodlum with a long rap sheet—a gangster, a punk. This was a young man who was respected by his peers. He presented himself as intelligent, courteous, well-spoken and polite.

  He was a four-year basketball player at Atlee High School.

  As a junior he was a part-time starter on the varsity squad. Coming into this season he had earned the job of full-time starter for the Raiders and became their leading scorer and best all-around player. Those accomplishments say more of his talent than his character but the following facts do not.

  Drayton’s character earned the respect of his coach and teammates, so much so that he was named one of two team captains for the Raiders this season. 
  This was not a young man abandoned to the system. This was a young man from a loving family who played every basketball game, high school or summer league, with both of his parents watching from the stands.

  The news that Drayton was accused of being involved in the death of a classmate was nearly as stunning as the murder itself.

  It was a devastating blow to the athletic community, not just at Atlee but across the county. As a rival basketball player said, “I got sick to my stomach,” when he heard Drayton, someone he knew fairly well, had been charged in the case. That sentiment was echoed by many who played with and against Drayton.

  A week later it is still unclear exactly what role Drayton played in the crime. But one fact the evidence seems to clearly present is that it was a case of associating with the wrong people. Drayton was seemingly no different than any other Hanover County student and parents throughout the area understood this could have happened to their child.

  By midweek, further news of disaster struck the county’s athletic community.

  Kirk Rohle and Benjamin Rogers, two highly-respected former Hanover High School football players, were injured in a house fire on the campus of Hampden-Sydney College.

  Rogers suffered only minor burns but Rohle was in critical condition and had to be flown to VCU Medial Center.

  It seemed that the lifelong friends, who seemed to share in every experience, could not even be separated in disaster.

  Throughout his playing career, Rohle was known as a hero on the football field. He saved many games for both the Hawks and the Tigers. But late Tuesday night Rohle showed the difference between heroism on the field of play and a heroic act in the game of life.

  Fearing Rogers was trapped in the burning building, Rohle disregarded his personal safety and returned to rescue his friend.

  As a center, Rogers had spent his playing career setting up the block and protecting Rohle. This time it was Rohle looking to protect Rogers.

  Rogers was treated and released from the hospital while Rohle suffered burns on his face, back, hands and feet. He will go through months of rehab and recovery before being released from the hospital.

  Two disasters. One ended in an uplifting message while the other brought only further pain to an already suffering community.

  There are few miles separating where Rohle, Rogers and Drayton lived and probably even less distance in how they were raised. But as parents you do your best and trust your children to make wise decisions.

  Every person on this earth has made decisions both wise and ill-advised never knowing what the eventual outcome will be. You pray and you hope that the decisions of your children do not lead them down the wrong path. Hopefully some good will eventually emerge from this disaster where both parents and their children enter an open discussion to prevent something like this from ever happening here again.