Speaking for the first time since his daughter's death, Tyson Gay told a crowd of friends and family gathered at an emotional candlelight vigil in Lexington, Ky., Monday night that he wanted to see an end to "senseless" violence.
"I don't want to read in the paper next week about another senseless killing. It has to stop," Gay said during a vigil held at Lafayette High School—the school both he and his daughter had attended, ABC News reports.
Trinity Gay, 15, was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire between occupants in two cars in a Lexington parking lot. Police report that she was not in either of the vehicles and was not the intended target.
Gay spoke from the school's track to the thousands gathered and thanked them for their support. The Olympic sprinter added that his daughter would have wanted others to "protect each other, no matter what."
"She was a happy girl all the time," he said.
Trinity was an accomplished high school sprinter who placed in several events at the Kentucky state championship in May, ABC reports. Several of Trinity's track teammates hung track spikes from a fence in memory of her.
Three men have been charged in the shooting.
Dvonta Middlebrooks, 21, was charged with wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the shooting. Chazerae Taylor, 38, and his son, D'markeo Taylor, 19, were both charged with wanton endangerment.
All three have pleaded not guilty, ABC News reports.
Read more at ABC News.