West Virginia State Linebacker Jyilek Zyiare Harrington Killed in Home Invasion

West Virginia State Linebacker Murdered in Home Invasion

Jyilek Zyiare Har­ring­ton, a 21-year-old line­backer for the Divi­sion II West Vir­ginia State Uni­ver­si­ty foot­ball team, was fatal­ly shot dur­ing what author­i­ties are inves­ti­gat­ing as a home inva­sion inci­dent in Charleston, West Virginia.

Details of the Tragic Incident

Accord­ing to police, mul­ti­ple gun­shots were fired dur­ing a dis­tur­bance in a hall­way and inside the apart­ment where Har­ring­ton’s body was found. 

The senior stu­dent-ath­lete was pro­nounced dead at the scene, hav­ing suf­fered mul­ti­ple gun­shot wounds.

Tributes from the University and Opposing Team

In the wake of this dev­as­tat­ing loss, West Vir­ginia State Uni­ver­si­ty pres­i­dent Ericke S. Cage and vice pres­i­dent of inter­col­le­giate ath­let­ics Nate Bur­ton expressed their con­do­lences and praised Har­ring­ton as an “incred­i­ble young man” who “embod­ied what it means to be a student-athlete.”

Harrington’s Charitable Work and Community Impact

The uni­ver­si­ty high­light­ed Har­ring­ton’s lead­er­ship on cam­pus and in the com­mu­ni­ty, not­ing that he would cre­ate GoFundMe cam­paigns dur­ing the Christ­mas sea­son to help less for­tu­nate families.

The ath­let­ic depart­ment has estab­lished a fund in his mem­o­ry to con­tin­ue his char­i­ta­ble endeavors.

Rescheduled Game and Planned Vigil

In response to the tragedy, West Vir­ginia State’s home open­er against Car­son-New­man, orig­i­nal­ly sched­uled for Thurs­day, has been resched­uled to Friday. 

A pri­vate vig­il involv­ing both teams is also planned for Thurs­day evening as the cam­pus com­mu­ni­ty gath­ers to mourn Har­ring­ton’s passing.