Korey Sims Jr., an 18-year-old recent graduate of St. Aloysius High School, was killed in a shooting on Sunday. Tuesday night, the school’s gymnasium was packed with mourners for a prayer service for Sims.

“It was a horrible shock,” St. Aloysius Principal Dawn Meeks said, “I think we all hoped we’d wake up the next morning and find out that, you know, it wasn’t true somehow.”

Meeks said she has fond memories of Sims.

“I never heard him say a bad word to anybody or about anybody,” she said. “He just had a way of bringing out the best in the people around him, and that’s a rare trait.

“(He was) very quiet, conscientious, hardworking, and respectful. Just about any really good adjective you can think of describes Korey.” 

Sims also worked with young children through a mentorship program.

“He loved kids. Our school has a program where the seniors buddy up with pre-K students,” Meeks said. “And, you know, some teenagers take to that really well, and some don’t, and Korey absolutely loved it, and his little buddy loved him. He had made plans to go back and see his little buddy after he graduated and teach him how to play basketball. He just took to it, and it was just heartwarming to see.”

Chesley Lambiotte taught Sims in several classes including performing arts, digital media, and theology. She mentioned a time when Sims received a picture drawn by his little buddy.

“Korey came back in the classroom, and he’s just beaming from ear to ear. And he said, ‘I think what I’m gonna do is I think I’m gonna give him some coaching lessons. I think I’m gonna help him out and help him be a good basketball player one day,’” Lambiotte said. “He was just so proud. And knowing that he had that effect on someone younger, looking up to him like that, it was just so powerful.”

Every year, the seniors have an overnight retreat, another event where Lambiotte said Sims displayed the character that made him special.

“(It is) usually held in April before they graduate, kind of one more time to come together,” Lambiotte said. “So at the senior retreat, one of the activities we do kind of allows the kids to write messages to one another. And he wrote different messages on every single person’s poster.”

At the end of each of Korey’s messages was the phrase “Good luck on the journey and keep God on it.” and was signed “K1,” Sims’ nickname at the school, where he was also a standout athlete on the basketball team.

The class of 2024 is currently taking donations to help the Sims family with funeral costs. Donations can be made at St. Aloysius High School, located at 1900 Grove Street in Vicksburg.