Ocoee High mourns loss of Leonard "Leo" Stay

To donate to a GoFundMe account that will help the family of Leonard "Leo" Stay with funeral costs, please follow this link.

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OCOEE — It never took long for Leonard “Leo” Stay to make a good impression.

As a member of the wrestling team at Ocoee High School, Stay joined the program mid-season in January but soon emerged as a leader. 

He wasn’t the best wrestler on the team — but his enthusiasm, positivity and work ethic made him an instant favorite of coach John Parmenter.

“Leo was a kid that he never saw anybody that he didn’t go up and meet; immediately he was telling you positive stuff,” Parmenter said. “He came out in January but immediately was a team leader right from the get-go. Nothing was impossible (as Stay saw it).”

That same youth whose infectious school spirit had so positively impacted the campus at Ocoee  — whether it be with the wrestling program, track program or chorus — was taken from the community this past weekend. 

In a case of mistaken identity, Stay was shot and killed by his 32-year-old brother, with whom he had been living with just east of Ocoee in Pine Hills. 

Around 11:30 p.m. June 5, Stay’s brother was awakened by what he and his wife believed to be an intruder, Orange County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mark Conner said. The man went to investigate with his semi-automatic handgun, while his wife called 911. When he found a person standing in the kitchen, he shot him. When he realized it was his brother, he immediately began performing CPR. Leonard Stay, 16, was pronounced dead at 12:27 a.m. June 6 at Florida Hospital Orlando.

The news spread throughout the community over the weekend, replacing the happiness of the start of summer vacation with somber phone calls to teammates and friends.

“He just wanted to be involved; (Stay) would try to find a way to go to everything he could,” Ocoee Athletic Director Steve McHale said. “We’re devastated. I’ve talked to coaches, and we’re at a loss for words. We’re just shocked. He was such a good kid; everyone is just like, ‘How did this happen to him?’”

Stay went out of his way to support teammates and classmates. Earlier this year, when teammates Jules Joseph and George Schenk earned a spot at the wrestling state championships, he found a way to Kissimmee to cheer them on. He often stayed after school to support other teams or practice for his own.

“Leo would cheer for every athlete — in every event — on our team,” said Moushaumi Robinson, who coached Stay on the Knights’ track-and-field program this spring. “He found the silver lining in everything. That’s usually something that life has to teach you over time. So, for him to be that dialed in at his age was so beautiful.”

Indeed, a common thought expressed by McHale, Parmenter and Robinson is that — regardless of what he may or may not contribute during competition — Stay was an individual they wanted around their program.

“He was always going to bring that infectious, positive energy that a team needs to get through a competition,” Robinson said.

In addition to his time spent playing sports, Stay was involved in Junior ROTC and chorus. He was also an active member at his church, Mt. Zion Tabernacle Christian, where he served as an usher and teen mentor, among other roles.

A GoFundMe campaign to help Stay’s family with the costs of his funeral has been set up at gofundme.com/LeoStay. Parmenter has talked with his wife about creating a plaque for the wrestling team’s room at Ocoee and, each year, adding a name recognizing the team’s most positive member to the “Leonard ‘Leo’ Stay Memorial Plaque.”

Robinson is planning to gather her athletes from Ocoee and other track-and-field competitors from the area to come together on Wednesday to remember Stay by walking a silent lap around the track, as well as placing a memorial to him near the track so that her athletes will not forget him — or the example he set.

A memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, at Mt. Zion Tabernacle Christian Church, 2986 Silver Star Road. The funeral service will take place in Jacksonville.

For Parmenter, who had three other student-athletes die during his time as a teacher at Evans High School, it is another sad instance of a young life being cut tragically short. And although it is tragic every time it happens, Parmenter said the loss of Stay in particular stings.

“Leo’s going to stick out there, forever, just because of that attitude and the enthusiasm that he brought every day,” Parmenter said. “The attitude of everybody was raised … everybody became more positive.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].