Vigil honors Lynner

LYNN – Goofy. Funny. Loved.That?s how friends and family at a candle light vigil Monday night described 23-year-old Brandon Payne of Lynn, who was shot and killed by police Sunday night.What started off as about 20 people lighting candles on Ingalls Street quickly swelled to more than 100, as friends and family cried, hugged and said prayers for Payne.Eight candles with ribbons tied around them sat on the sidewalk in front of two white poster boards, each with photos of Payne. One by one loved ones, including Payne?s daughter, 4, and two sons, ages 6 and 7, signed messages with magic markers and passed out candles.Payne?s mother, Lolita Miller, said she expected the big turnout Monday night because her son was “loved regardless of his record.”?Records have nothing to do with him himself,” said Miller.?They didn?t have to kill him. They didn?t have to shoot him twice. I could see if they were shooting at them or something, but they weren?t doing any of that. They were running. How are you going to shoot someone twice running? Once you shoot them once they?re down.”Reminders of the shooting were still visible Monday night.Next to the posters, a scrap of yellow police tape still tied to a chain link fence flapped in the cool evening breeze. Several houses down broken glass was scattered across the street.According to a press release from Lynn Police Lt. Chris Kelly, Lynn Police attempted to make a traffic stop on Ingalls Street of two cars possibly with armed suspects. The release states that the vehicle with the armed suspects “rammed a police vehicle.” Three Lynn Police officers and a Massachusetts State Trooper then fired on the car, according to the release, striking Payne twice.Payne died Monday morning at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to a press release from Essex District Attorney spokeswoman Carrie Kimball-Monahan. Three other suspects were arrested and arraigned in Lynn District Court Monday.Yvette Brown said she has known Payne “since he was little,” and called his death “devastating.”?He was good friends with my nephew and he called me ?Auntie,?” said Brown, who was one of many family members in the emergency room early Monday morning. “I was praying for a miracle. It was like a dream where you want to be pinched and wake up.”Brown described Payne as “funny” and “really loved.”?He really brightened your day when he came around,” she said.Shanae Pierce used to date Payne and said she was in shock when she first the news and didn?t think it was real. Pierce described Payne as “goofy” and said they had a “good time together.”?In spite of the bad times and what he did, we all had good times,” said Pierce. “He was a good guy, he was. We were together like everyday. And those times being together we always had fun. I?m definitely going to miss him.”Phil Javis, a cousin, said Payne was “funny,” noting when he was around family, “it was like old times.” Javis said despite Payne?s criminal record, he was trying to “turn his life around.”?Not only for himself but for his family and his kids, and that was taken away from him,” said Javis. “It?s hard to start over when all your friends are still in it. Even though you try to pull away, your friends are constantly pulling you this way.”Javis said he last saw Payne at a cousin?s graduation earlier this summer.?I wish I would have returned his phone call,” said Javis. “Our cousin had graduated and that was the last we had seen of each other. He called and I was working, probably about two weeks ago, then when I called I got voice mail.”Javis said he would have just one thing to say if he could talk to his cousin again.?I love him,” he said.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].