Coach, teammates mourn former Whiteville High School football players

WHITEVILLE, N.C. (WECT) - Football games at Whiteville High School won’t be the same without the Bellamy brothers there to cheer on their former teammates.

“Nick was an athletic kid, excelled in track as well, as a sprinter on the relay team,” said J.P Price, who coached the boys in high school. “Tylek started for us in the secondary. He got the nickname Touchdown Tylek because he’d always come in at the end of the games if we were up big and I swear to you, every time it seemed like he touched the ball, he would score.”

Their athletic abilities are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Tylek and Nikolas Bellamy will be remembered for.

“Likeable personality and likable kids,” said Price. “Always a smile on their face. They like to cut up a lot.”

On Sunday, the two were shot and killed at their home on Elizabeth Street. It was news no one expected.

“When I first saw it, it was just shock. Disturbed. Frustrating.”

Not only are their former teammates heartbroken but the two leave behind family members that now have to find a way to move on without them.

“Two young lives were lost and Tylek had a baby so now you have a kid growing up without a father,” said Price. “So just heartbreaking, very heartbreaking.”

As Coach Price tries to help guide his team through mourning, he prays to one day see an end to the senseless violence...

“If we would do what God’s called us to do and that’s love God, love your neighbor. lots of these things would end,” said Price. “Just by showing love. Just by simply showing love and... genuine value of life.”

Coach Price says he finds peace in knowing the boys were Christians.

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