'He did not deserve this': Family remembers Daunte Wright as an adoring dad who enjoyed playing sports and celebrating the Fourth of July

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Daunte Wright was a family man, doting on his namesake 2-year-old son and always given to laughter.

On Sunday, the 20-year-old's laughter stopped, turning to community anger and disbelief after Wright was fatally shot by a senior Brooklyn Center officer when, police said, she mistook her gun for a taser.

His death, ruled a homicide, has raised questions in a region already at the epicenter of protests and promises of police reform amid the killing of Black men by police in the United States. Just 10 miles away in Minneapolis, the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin is underway for the death of George Floyd last year.  

Wright, who grew up in the Minneapolis area, was an adoring father with siblings and parents he loved, according to his mother, Katie Wright. He struggled with a learning disability and dropped out of high school about two years ago, his father told The Washington Post. He planned to get his GED and worked to support his son, Daunte Jr.

But he was so much more, his mother stressed. 

“He was a son, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he was a father, he was a grandson,” Katie Wright, told reporters at a Monday night vigil. "He was so much more, and he did not deserve this. My heart is literally broken into a thousand pieces.”

Wright loved to goof around, play sports and drive the car he had just been given by a family member, relatives and family friends said at a news conference Tuesday.

He came from a loving family and cared for his son, said aunt Naisha Wright. "He was loved. He was ours."

Cousin Mario Greer said Wright's favorite holiday was the Fourth of July.

"We liked to shoot Roman candles at each other. We're not going to be able to do that anymore...I love you, Daunte," Greer said.

'Worst day of my life':As Daunte Wright's family grieves, police chief and officer resign in Brooklyn Center shooting

Wright also made many friends in his young life, mostly a younger crowd – something that was made clear at the vigils and protests by the ages of those who attended, said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former head of the NAACP in Minneapolis.

"He was connected to people, people knowing him and being in that community – and of course feeling outraged," she said.

"There was a lot of chanting youth out there," Toshira Garraway of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence said, referring to the protests on Sunday and Monday. "They were his friends."

She added, "He liked sports, just kind of goofing around and he was very funny."

Wright's death sparked protests and tributes from across the country, including from people on social media. 

At the news conference that also gathered George Floyd's family and other relatives of victims of police violence, Katie Wright spoke in soft tones as she recounted the last time she saw or spoke with her son, whom Garraway and family said was mentored at Thomas Edison High School in Minneapolis by Floyd's girlfriend, Courteney Ross.

Katie Wright said she got a call at 1:47 p.m. Sunday from her son while he was in the car with a girl getting pulled over by police – "the worst day of my life," she said. She explained that her son told her he had air freshener hanging from his mirror, which can draw a traffic ticket in Minnesota.

"I said, 'Well, take them down,'" she recalled, saying the police were also asking about proof of insurance and that she wanted to speak with the officers to give the information by phone. 

That never happened. "A second goes by, and I hear the police officer come back up to the window and ask Daunte to get out of the car," she said. "Daunte put the phone down, I heard some scuffling."

Next thing she recalled, "They hung up the phone. Three of four seconds went by. I tried calling it back to back to back, but I didn't know what was going on. I never imagined this is what was going to happen. I just thought maybe he was being arrested."

Soon, she told a large crowd of reporters outside the Hennepin County Government Center where Chauvin is on trial, she called again – this time the girl answered on video.

"She was crying and screaming, and she says that they shot him," Katie Wright remembered. "She pointed the phone toward the driver's seat, and my son was laying there, unresponsive. The was the last time that I saw my son. That was the last time I heard from my son, and I have had no explanation since then."

Tuesday's news conference was organized by groups supporting families of victims of police violence and attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Wright family and also is the attorney for the Floyd family. He won a $27 million settlement with the city over Floyd's death.

Before Katie Wright spoke, the families, many of whom knew each other from their unfortunate bond, hugged and prayed that "heaven opens up and justice rains down on us."

Naisha Wright called her nephew's death "murder" and demanded that the officer be held to the "highest" standard in the law. "He is fatherless," she said of Wright's son.

Police said Monday that Wright had warrants out for his arrest and was stopped because he had expired plates. To that or any other troubles in Wright's life, family members said at the event that it didn't paint a fair picture of a young man who brought joy to their lives.

"He may not have been an angel," his grandmother said, "but he was our angel."

“I miss him so much already, and it's only been a day,” Katie Wright said at Monday's vigil. “He had a smile that was angelic. He lit up the room, and I just need everyone to know that he was my life, he was my son and I can never get that back."

A GoFundMe page for a memorial fund for Wright has so far raised over $560,000 as of Wednesday morning. 

Eric Ferkenhoff is the Midwest Criminal Justice Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Ryan Miller is a News NOW Reporter at USA TODAY