The Seattle City Council has proclaimed June 6 as Amar Murphy Payne Day, in memory of a 17-year-old Garfield High School student who lost his life to gun violence. June 6, 2026 marks two years since Amar Murphy Payne was shot and killed in 2024 outside the school, and the search for his killer continues even as the city moves to honor him.
There was a round of applause as the council formally proclaimed the day. Family members, including his father, Aaron Murphy Payne, accepted the proclamation before the council, remembering Amar as an exceptional athlete and an artist whose life was cut short far too soon.
For his father, the loss remains ever present. He says he proudly wears a picture of his late son, taken at one of his musical performances, placed inside a heart. He says he wears it everywhere and every day, explaining that he keeps it close because Amar had a big heart.
Part of the family's pain is tied to where the killing happened. Amar lost his life at a place his family believed he would be safe, his own school. As his father put it, he dropped his son off at school and the teenager was dead at school before classes had even ended that day.
His grandmother, Veronica, used the moment to call for stronger safeguards for young people. She said there is no protection in place for students like Amar and for other children, and questioned what kind of justice exists when a Black child can be killed at school, asking what authorities are going to do about it.
Council member Joy Hollingsworth thanked the family for their resilience and love, saying the city needs to hear them. For her, the proclamation itself carries meaning, describing it as the justice that matters because it writes Amar's name into the history of Seattle going forward.
Even so, the family stresses that the recognition is not the end of their fight. Aaron Murphy Payne says his son's killer still needs to be brought to justice, pointing out that there is a murderer still walking free. Two years after the shooting, the case remains open as the family continues to push for accountability.