When Lavardo Fisher wasn’t tackling opponents on the football field, the 13-year-old boy was tackling the books in the classroom.
Sometimes, his coach recalled, the Ocoee Middle School eighth-grader would often discuss his homework assignments on the way to practice so he wouldn’t forget them. And last year, he earned the distinguished title of Pop Warner All-American Scholar.
“When you think of Lavardo, you think, ‘This is the kid I want my daughter to marry, this is the kid I want my daughter to go to prom with,'” said Lo Wood, who coaches Lavardo’s team in Ocoee. “He was humble.”
Just after 11 p.m. on Monday, Lavardo became Orange County’s eighth gunshot fatality in the past week — and the youngest victim in Orange and Seminole counties this year. Lavardo was playing Xbox on Sunday when he was accidentally shot in the back of the head by his cousin. The 18-year-old shooter was on a hoverboard and lost his balance, causing the gun to fire.
Lavardo’s death follows a violent streak in Central Florida that includes a mass shooting at the Glitz Ultra Lounge nightclub, a double homicide at the Florida Mall parking lot and two separate slayings at apartment buildings. All of the carnage took place from Feb. 2 to Feb. 7.
The previous month, 15-year-old Tamar Harris was shot and killed while riding in a car in East Altamonte.
“I don’t understand why people are that brave to even pick up a gun,” Wood said. “And when it gets down to kids, that’s crazy. When it gets to that point, something has to be done.”
More details about Lavardo’s death emerged Tuesday when the Orange County Sheriff’s Office released the account of first responders.
Lavardo wasn’t breathing when paramedics were called to the home on Spottswood Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, according to an Orange County incident report. He was taken in critical condition to Arnold Palmer, where he died on Monday night.
A number of people were at the Conway Acres subdivision home when the shooting occurred — including three “mentally challenged” women who were visiting from a group home, the report states. The women, ages 46 to 56, were in a different room when the gun fired.
Two of Lavardo’s cousins — Brandon Louis and Widmaer Morame, both 18 — witnessed the shooting. Blood stains covered their clothing, the report states.
They told investigators their friend “Skeet” brought over the gun and was showing it to them when it accidentally went off. The cousins said they met “Skeet” at the basketball courts the day before.
But officers and police dogs could not locate Skeet, the report states.
The boys later told deputies they made him up.
“I didn’t mean to shoot, it was an accident, the gun just went off,” Louis told an investigator.
Morame said they found the gun under a bed in his brother’s room, where the cousins were playing video games on Xbox.
Louis was riding a hoverboard, holding the gun.
He lost his balance and the gun “went off,” the report states. It does not provide the firearm’s make or model. Louis has not been charged in the shooting, records show.
Deputies determined the gun belonged to Walter Morame, who was not home at the time of the shooting. He denied owning the gun, the report states.
Morame, 35, was arrested Sunday on charges of possession of a weapon by a felon, deputies said. He was convicted in 2006 of battery of a law enforcement officer, Orange County Court records show.
Lavardo’s death comes as a shock to Wood, who has coached the boy for three years. He said Lavardo was a standout kid.
“You think guns and you think negative — but that’s not Lavardo,” he said. “A lot of stuff starts at home and he had a great home and family. I can’t even fathom … it’s just crazy in this society.”
echerney@tribune.com or 407-420-5735
