His arm had severe scarring and he underwent reconstructive surgery. He wore a flesh-colored band from his wrist to above his elbow.
Harris acknowledged that Blake had been involved in previous tagging incidents.
Despite that, Blake was on track to graduate in June and had made his mark at the school as a gifted artist.
"He was one of our top painters," said DeWayne Mason, who teaches art at Patriot High. "For a high school student, he was doing college-level painting."
"He had some personal demons," Mason said. "But he was an easygoing, laid back, thoughtful kind of a kid."
Harris said Blake went out Friday night with some friends. His mother text messaged him when he missed his 1 a.m. curfew. He replied that he was going to drop off some friends and then head home.
Harris said the family believes he was with three other boys and have tried to contact them, but they have not called back.
"People who knew Blake over his lifetime know that he was a good boy who, unfortunately, made a bad decision," Harris said. "We've all made bad choices as youths during our lifetime."
I did some hair-curling stuff when I was young.
Prayers for the family.
Same here...Apalling, stupid things like setting up a beach umbrella and lawn chairs in the runway threshold at a military airbase and sipping tonic with friends so we could admire the planes. The beach umbrella kept blowing away and police came.
So I muted my first impulsive comment about the tagger, and just shut up.
What gives him the right to use public property as his 'canvas'? His 'personal demons' are no excuse. Good riddance.
This sounds like a Woody Allen joke or something.