LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two years after Austin Fitzpatrick's death, friends and family gathered in the spot where he was killed, outside his 3rd Street apartment, to hold a vigil.
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) said the 26-year-old was unpacking his gear when he was shot multiple times and had his car stolen.
After collecting several videos, police identified two people as persons of interest, but no suspects have been named in the case.
His family and friends worry the people of Louisville have become desensitized to homicides. But, they also say Fitzpatrick's story is an example of how each death is one too many.
"There has not been a single day that has passed that I haven't thought about Austin," his best friend Thomas Boles said. "I pass somewhere, 'oh that would have been a cool place for us to go.' Or, I hear a new song and I want to send it to him and you can't anymore."
A handful of people, all connected by Fitzpatrick, stood with lit candles reflecting an orange tinge on their faces as they spoke of the son, brother and friend they lost.
They told stories of a 26-year-old who loved playing with fire, literally and metaphorically. He was a graphic designer and used fire often in his artistic projects.
He's the kind of guy it's hard to live without.
"I miss him every day," Boles said.
On the same hand, the hundreds of deaths in Louisville since Fitzpatrick's passing are not lost on them.
"You wake up and you hear it every day. To the point where you're like, 'oh, somebody else,'" Boles said. "I live on Southside Drive, I hear the gunshots, I hear the sirens going to the location, I hear mom's crying about it."
Hope Patrick met Fitzpatrick through Live Action Role Play (LARP). She's also a glassblower and Fitzpatrick's love of art and fire made them kindred spirits.
Patrick posited desensitization or fatigue of violence is keeping Louisville from further progressing to reduce violence.
"It's just willful ignorance," she said. "In the fact that the things around us that are happening are actually happening."
But, the focus of the vigil Wednesday was to remember and honor Fitzpatrick, one of the many lives that should not have been lost in Louisville.
They said he never made an enemy and went out of his way to make a friend.
His mother, Eva Helms, laughed to that, candle in hand. She smiled.
"That's just how he was," she said.
Helms just got his car back after it had been sitting in the impound lot for two years.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.