Duncan Community Remembers Christopher Lane

The murder of ECU baseball player, Christopher Lane, shook up not only the city of Duncan, where three teens allegedly shot the innocent man, but it also shocked people across the state.

A roadside memorial for Christopher Lane went up not long after his tragic death - it is one way the community is showing support to Lane's girlfriend, Sarah Harper, and her family.

"Every person he talked to, touched, or met, you could ask them today and they would say they wish they were half the person he was," Tyler Harper said it's especially true for him.

Christopher Lane, a 22-year-old Australian native, died while jogging down Country Club Road on August 16 in Duncan. Three teenagers are accused of randomly shooting and killing Lane because they were "bored."

8/18/2013 Related Story: 3 Juveniles Arrested In Murder Of ECU Baseball Player, Australian National

Instead of remembering Lane for his tragic death, Tyler harper and his family want people to remember the life that lane lived.

"He was a very funny individual, very caring and loved to joke around." Tyler Harper explained Christopher Lane began courting his sister, Sarah Harper, four years ago. "Their love was perfect, like any Cinderella story that anyone could ever dream out of a fairytale."

Tyler Harper said it didn't take long for the entire Harper family to fall in love with Lane and it is that love that has them so distraught now.

"Anytime someone's life is taken from you, just out of the blue, it's hard to come terms with that reality and it's a mixture of denial, rage and sorrow all at the same time," he said.

The grief is something Tyler Harper knows Christopher Lane's family is also feeling - thousands of miles away in Australia.

"The world was robbed of a good person, a great person, a friend, a son, a brother," he said.

To help Lane's father get from Australia to the US so he can take his son back to their native home, a donation fund has been set up in Christopher Lane's honor. More than $72,000 has been raised in two days, and counting.

Find out how you can donate to the fund.