CARROLLTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students at Carroll County High School returned to the halls on Monday with heavy hearts, one day after one of their classmates was shot and killed.
The community continues to cope with the death of 16-year-old Bryce Stewart.
Stewart would've been a junior at Carroll County High School.
The school has asked for privacy during this tragedy, and as a result, WDRB is keeping our distance. But the school is opening up for its students and staff as they mourn the loss of someone they say had a loving soul.
Stewart's sister, Kira Lasley, says it's an unbelievable amount of pain.
"Every time I say it, I don't even believe it," she said.
Stewart's friends say it's the kind of pain you can't prepare for.
"We were practically brothers," said Bryson Chadwell.
"It just doesn't seem real to me," Lasley added. "I'm just like, 'It's okay. He's coming home.' But I know he's not."
Stewart was shot and killed early Sunday morning, according to Kentucky State Police. The shooting occurred at a home in Owenton, Kentucky, just east of Carroll County.
Timothy Stone, age 40, is charged with manslaughter and is being held in jail in Owen County. Police have not yet released any details about how the shooting happened, and family members chose not to provide additional information.
"Things happen and there's nothing anybody can do," said Lasley.
"I called him my little big brother," she added. "I always looked up to him. He taught me so much."
"He was really strong minded," Chadwell said. "He'd want me to say that he's actually strong, too."
Others in the Carroll County community -- even those who didn't know Stewart -- expressed love for Stewart and the school.
"It makes me so proud of him," Lasley said. "You just have to take it day-by-day. You're never going to be able to prepare for something like this."
Lasley said it's the kind of pain that will never go away.
"I don't think anybody is ever going to forget him, and we're going to miss him every day," she said. "It will never get easier."
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