AMELIA COUNTY, Va. -- In song and in prayer, more than a hundred classmates, teammates and family friends came together at the Amelia High School softball field to remember the life of Hannah Green.
The 17-year-old Amelia high school senior died Saturday after she was shot in the stomach.
Softball coach Robin Gary, who helped organize the candlelight vigil, said teammates wanted to pay tribute to the beloved student.
Hannah Green
“I think it’s important that they see that they are not grieving alone,” said Gary.
A straight-A student, Hannah’s father, William Green, said she also attended the Governor's school, and had recently been accepted to Longwood University.
Her grieving family said her infectious smile was what they will remember most.
"Hannah was always smiling, always happy. She loved playing softball and she loved being with her friends. She loved family,” said her father.
The circumstances surrounding Hannah’s death remain a mystery.
The family said investigators have told them very little, only that the Sheriff’s Office had received a call Saturday night that Hannah had received a gunshot wound while in a storage building at a property in the Morefield Meadows subdivision.
Hannah was conscious and able to talk to deputies, but later died at the hospital.
Green was living with her boyfriend at the time of the shooting. Family and friends spoke little of the relationship.
Without answers, Hannah’s family said they have found comfort in the support of others.
“These girls have known each other since they were born,” said Hannah’s stepmother Tina Green.
"They grew up together," added William Green. "It’s not like other schools, when you grow up going to a different elementary, middle and high schools. Here they all start in elementary together. They all grow up and play softball together. And go to school together. So, it’s all like family."
Hannah’s best friend Deanna Dorton said Hannah would have been humbled by the turnout at the vigil, which included students from several surrounding schools like Powhatan and Goochland.
William and Tina Green (Hannah's father and step-mother)
“I can’t put into words how happy she would have been from this, knowing how many people loved her,” she said.
Teammates ended Monday’s vigil with a similar chant, that they used to say at games. Except this time, they shouted, 'one, two, three, Hannah Green.'
While the Amelia County Sheriff’s Office has not released a formal statement, Crime Insider sources said they were waiting on an autopsy report to rule out foul play.
Friends and family set up a GoFundMe to help Hannah's family pay for funeral costs. Any addition money raised would be donated to the Amelia High School softball team in Hannah's name, Tina Green said.
