‘Vi was loved by a lot of people,’ friends come together to remember shooting victim

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn (WDEF) – Friends of Vi Lawhorn are leaning on each other for support.

A day after their friend was tragically killed, they decided to met up at Bud’s Sports Bar to be together.

“Vi was loved by a lot of people, and we feel like we need to be here for her,” Lawhorn’s friend Angie Metivier said.

Early Sunday morning, the bodies of Lawhorn and 22-year-old Avery Gaines were found in a home.

Lawhorn’s son, Casey, confessed to the killings on Facebook.

He was later found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lawhorn’s friend Erika Johnson was with Lawhorn at Bud’s before she was killed and didn’t notice anything abnormal.

“If there was something.  She would have told, if nobody else she would’ve confided in us.  She would’ve told us and there was, there was nothing.  She was even talking about how her son and her friend they were just hanging out and stuff.  There was nothing.  I mean there was nothing.  We would’ve known.  She was happy.  She left happy,” Johnson said.

Happy, and classy, beautiful inside and out that’s how friends described Lawhorn.

“She always had a smile on her face, and she always had kind words.  And, I don’t think I ever, ever heard Vi say a negative word about anybody.  She would rather keep it to herself.  She wanted to bring happiness to people,” Metivier said.

Johnson said when she was last with her friend they talked about an upcoming gala, and a girls beach trip they take every year to Panama City.

The trip will be different this year, but her friends said Lawhorn will still be a part of it.

“Nobody can fill that spot this year.  I would rather it be missing so we can remember her because that’s her spot.  That’s her spot,” Johnson said.

“She’ll be with us,” Metivier said.

“She will.  she’ll always be right here, and we have tons of memories and they’re all good memories, and I’ll just carry them with me,” Johnson said.